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Facebook Security Chief Said To Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation (theverge.com)
Facebook's chief information security officer, Alex Stamos, will leave the company after internal disagreements over how the social network should deal with its role in spreading disinformation. The New York Times reports (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source): Mr. Stamos had been a strong advocate inside the company for investigating and disclosing Russian activity on Facebook, often to the consternation of other top executives, including Sheryl Sandberg, the social network's chief operating officer, according to the current and former employees, who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters. After his day-to-day responsibilities were reassigned to others in December, Mr. Stamos said he would leave the company. He was persuaded to stay through August to oversee the transition of his duties because executives thought his departure would look bad, the current and former employees said. He has been overseeing the transfer of his security team to Facebook's product and infrastructure divisions. His group, which once had 120 people, now has three, the current and former employees said. Mr. Stamos would be the first high-ranking employee to leave Facebook since controversy erupted over disinformation on its site. His departure is a sign of heightened leadership tensions at the company.
Sheryl Sandberg didn't want him looking into it because it would have lead to Democrat operatives being exposed.
There, I saved you an investigation.
Msmash and Beauhd would follow his lead.
Let's hope that Facebook can weather the storm of seeming growth-spurt induced moral troubles; Russian meddling, data mining, etc.
The moral compass like a magnetic compass has to be checked for angular deviation, due to the near presence of great attractors nearby.
Similarly, the lines of the Earth's magnetism are misalligned with true north; an underlying social/societal moral misallignment may have a similar effect on an organisation.
Looking at space, radio, science and computing from a 'down-under' amateur enthusiast perspective.
Facebook is a blight on modern society. It offers far little than it gives, even if it were a paid service. The tracking, privacy nightmare aspect of it is too real. It's almost as bad as Google.
I've been in IT for 20 years and I have zero social media accounts, partly due to the privacy aspects, partly due to not needing approval of others to feel good about myself. While Facebook, et al do have a modicum of merit, that merit is far outweighed by the negatives.
Spreading links and news that interests the users and their friends is now seen as "disinformation" by a social media brand?
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
of being the sacrificial lamb -
What could possibly go wrong.
Particularly given, that if you were in charge of security that you could easily compartmentlize any moral quams about how the entire system works as "not my job."
Good for him!
Facebook is billions of individual "Skinner Boxes." And if you use it you are the pigeon!
For the most part it really isnt. And you now see why.
I worry about Alterslash. Years of alt-right postings appear to have had an effect, and some of the less lucid crayonpushers are regularly appearing as definitive posters rather than just as symptoms of Russian and Macedonian troll factories and Koch-funded media. I'm genuinely sad.
In other words, "disinformation" means "anything our rulers don't want us to know about". The average adult should be able to work out what is true and what isn't, if they are presented with BOTH sides of the argument. Unfortunately, for the past 50 years we have only heard one side of the argument, relentlessly, from the controlled media and from our employers... political correctness, Left wing politics, etc.
... from a debilitating case of ethical principles. He should seek treatment at the closest available MBA program.
Stamos is a literal human security canary. If he leaves a company without a very good explanation, it's the smoke signal that the security is terrible. Yahoo was the most recent example of this.
Which is funny, because anyone that hires him risks him tripping that canary rule. Anyone that even possibly might have a skeezy thing going on or risks heavy handed government involvement should be wary of hiring him, but Yahoo and Facebook did, so I guess they weren't that smart...