Aaron Sorkin with an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg in the New York Times. An important read…anybody else ready to dump Facebook?
Mark,
In 2010, I wrote “The Social Network” and I know you wish I hadn’t. You protested that the film was inaccurate and that Hollywood didn’t understand that some people build things just for the sake of building them. (We do understand that — we do it every day.)
I didn’t push back on your public accusation that the movie was a lie because I’d had my say in the theaters, but you and I both know that the screenplay was vetted to within an inch of its life by a team of studio lawyers with one client and one goal: Don’t get sued by Mark Zuckerberg.
It was hard not to feel the irony while I was reading excerpts from your recent speech at Georgetown University, in which you defended — on free speech grounds — Facebook’s practice of posting demonstrably false ads from political candidates. I admire your deep belief in free speech. I get a lot of use out of the First Amendment. Most important, it’s a bedrock of our democracy and it needs to be kept strong.
But this can’t possibly be the outcome you and I want, to have crazy lies pumped into the water supply that corrupt the most important decisions we make together. Lies that have a very real and incredibly dangerous effect on our elections and our lives and our children’s lives.
Continue reading the main story
Don’t say Larry Flynt. Not even Larry Flynt would say Larry Flynt. This isn’t the same as pornography, which people don’t rely upon for information. Last year, over 40 percent of Americans said they got news from Facebook. Of course the problem could be solved by those people going to a different news source, or you could decide to make Facebook a reliable source of public information.
The tagline on the artwork for “The Social Network” read, in 2010, “You don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies.” That number sounds quaint just nine years later because one-third of the planet uses your website now.
And right now, on your website,
is an ad claiming
that Joe Biden gave the Ukrainian attorney general a billion dollars not to investigate his son. Every square inch of that is a lie and it’s under your logo. That’s not defending free speech, Mark, that’s assaulting truth.
You and I want speech protections to make sure no one gets imprisoned or killed for saying or writing something unpopular, not to ensure that lies have unfettered access to the American electorate.
Even after the screenplay for “The Social Network” satisfied the standards of Sony’s legal department, we sent the script — as promised over a handshake — to a group of senior lieutenants at your company and invited them to give notes. (I was asked if I would change the name of Harvard University to something else and if Facebook had to be called Facebook.)
Continue reading the main story
After we’d shot the movie, we arranged a private screening of an early cut for your chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg. Ms. Sandberg stood up in the middle of the screening, turned to the producers who were standing in the back of the room, and said, “How can you do this to a kid?” (You were 26 years old at the time, but all right, I get it.)
I hope your C.O.O. walks into your office, leans in (as she suggested we do in her best selling book), and says, “How can we do this to tens of millions of kids? Are we really going to run an ad that claims Kamala Harris ran dog fights out of the basement of a pizza place while Elizabeth Warren destroyed evidence that climate change is a hoax and the deep state sold meth to Rashida Tlaib and Colin Kaepernick?”
The law hasn’t been written yet —
yet
— that holds carriers of user-generated internet content responsible for the user-generated content they carry, just like movie studios, television networks and book, magazine and newspaper publishers. Ask
Peter Thiel
, who funded a series of lawsuits against Gawker, including an invasion of privacy suit that bankrupted the site and forced it to close down. (You should have Mr. Thiel’s number in your phone because he was an early investor in Facebook.)
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Oct. 25, 2019
Most people don’t have the resources to employ a battalion of fact checkers. Nonetheless,
while you were testifying
before
a congressional committee two weeks ago
, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked you the following: “Do you see a potential problem here with a complete lack of fact-checking on political advertisements?” Then, when she pushed you further, asking you if Facebook would or would not take down lies, you answered, “Congresswoman, in most cases, in a democracy, I believe people should be able to see for themselves what politicians they may or may not vote for are saying and judge their character for themselves.”
Now you tell me. If I’d known you felt that way, I’d have had the Winklevoss twins invent Facebook.
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Are you watching The Watchmen? I started and It's pretty good. I have no background as I haven't read the comic books or graphic novels. Regina King makes anything she is in better…
The Apollo Theater gets the HBO treatment
Covers Of The Day
Eric Church covers The Band
A treasure trove of Quotes Of The Day….
“We swear an oath to support and defend the Constitution, not an oath to support and defend Donald Trump’s abuse of the office of the presidency.”-Rep. Justin Amash
“Stop saying “polarized.” The @GOP is insane.”-Bradley Whitford
“Today, 52 Senate Republicans went on the record against affordable health care and protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Today, 52 Senate Republicans voted against patients and families. Don't forget.”-Senator Patty Murray
“Any effort to purposely out a whistleblower is dangerous and unacceptable. And any Member or staffer who helps such an effort should be removed from sensitive committees. Intimidating witnesses is wrong and cannot be tolerated. Enough. “-Kamala Harris
https://twitter.com/thedailybeast/status/118896959…
“The trial is coming up. The senate is the jury. The defendant is not allowed to hand cash to the jury.Trump is committing “felony bribery” by giving fundraising cash to GOP senators ahead of impeachment trial”-Richard Painter (Ethics lawyer under GW Bush)
“BREAKING: Trump just broke his campaign promise to support Medicare negotiation of prescription drug prices. “-Topher Spiro
https://twitter.com/InHealthPolicy/status/11896742…
Just remember, its not about the process…..
“House Republicans, who have been harping about unfair process and procedures, just unanimously voted against additional process and procedures. The same people who have been yelling that closed hearing were illegitimate, now are saying they oppose open hearings.”-Susan Hennessey
“McConnell’s become so comfortable doing the wrong thing, it may be too hard for him to switch to the right one, to risk being labeled “human scum” as Trump calls his Republican critics and to endure Trump’s red-faced rage”
https://trib.al/XaN166s
“How can GOP senators serve as impeachment jurors when they're implicated in Trump's misdeeds? “-Marcus Woodward
https://salon.com/2019/10/30/how-can-gop-senators-…
Ron Johnson…we are looking at you….
“Lt Col Vindman is a true hero. Can you imagine him going back to work and dealing with some of his Republican bosses. His career is over, but guess what. His values, his honesty, his patriotism, his love of this country are all in tact. Can’t say the same for the GOP politicians”-American Veteran
“The GOP is in a crime cult. The whole party is tainted by mafia money delivered by intermediaries like the NRA. Felon Michael Cohen was their deputy finance chairman! The GOP is corrupt, contaminated, and intimidated. That's why GOP reps are more likely to resign than to impeach. “Sara Kendizor
https://twitter.com/PeteDominick/status/1190077248…
“Everything about this was wrong. It’s wrong to publish revenge porn. It’s wrong to use revenge porn to drive an elected official out of office. It’s wrong that her abusive ex was treated like a legitimate source, when revenge porn is a form of abuse and control. This is the GOP.”-Sarah Reese Jones
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1189966665…
“Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg don't know how to use power responsibly. They're actively, willingly helping dismantle our democracy. “-Andrea Chalupa #BreakUpFacebook
“Republicans then: Lying about sex is a heinous crime. Impeach!Republicans now: Extortion isn’t extortion and even if it is, it’s not a big deal. But if a Democrat does it? Impeach!”_Bryce Tache
“Alexander Hamilton did indeed warn about days like this. And that's why he wanted the House to have the power to impeach the president. What Hamilton did not anticipate was that one political party would persist in supporting a president engaged in high crimes and misdemeanors.”-Binyamin Applebaum
https://twitter.com/markknoller/status/11899130224…
“If a female judicial nominee, rated ‘Not Qualified’ by the ABA, started sobbing at her hearing when a Senator confronted her with criticism from fellow lawyers, she would never, ever be confirmed. This guy will probably sit on the bench for decades.”-Rosanne Cash
https://usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/10/3…
“Impeachment isn’t reversing an election. It is holding an elected president accountable. If someone gets accepted to college then cheats while he is there, kicking him out isn’t reversing his acceptance.”-Matthew Dowd
“Either the GOP has made a decision that Trump is worth the total destruction of their party or they have a plan to never relinquish power.”-Mike Farb
“Having called around some, reassured in my judgment that those House Republicans open to voting for impeachment simply decided to stick with the party yesterday, and to save their dissent for the real vote. No point telegraphing the jail break to the prison guards ahead of time.”-Bill Kristol
“The GOP will switch from “he didn't do it” to “he did it, but it's not so bad.” But it is. Trump committed all of the original sins envisioned by the Founders: abuse of power, self-dealing, foreign intervention.”-Garry Kasparov twitter.com/BillKristol/st
“The Trump Administration is not merely disgusting it is Un-American. This conduct to get foreign governments to hurt American intelligence agencies is insane. It is Trump’s revenge, and violates his oath of office. Amazing behavior. “-John Dean
https://twitter.com/rvawonk/status/119043971162356…
“If we harness the wind from all the Trump booing, we could stop relying on fossil fuel.”-Steven Weber
“If someone’s “point of view” is objectively false, the media should consider not “reporting” it at all.”-Jennifer Cohn
https://twitter.com/jennycohn1/status/11908373621…
“I covered the Soviet Union and its face off with American democracy. To liken this impeachment inquiry to Soviet tactics is to make a mockery of all who stood up for justice, accountability and the rule of law during the Cold War – including many, many Republicans.”-Dan Rather
“Paula White is to religion what Trump University was to higher education: a fraud.”-Richard Painter
“1. The big mistake people are making is believing that the GOP politicians and commentators know they are spinning ridiculous, imaginary conspiracy theories. As the text messages made public in the Manafort case shows, they believe their nonsense.”-Kurt Eichenwald @seanhannity in private texts…Show this thread
“This week, the House voted on a resolution to move to an open process, which is what Republicans have said they wanted. None of them voted for it. House Republicans don't want a better or different impeachment process. They want to protect Trump, and themselves.”-Ezra Klein
“Trump went to that UFC match for a reason. After getting resoundingly booed at the World Series, he needed to go somewhere he'd be cheered. He should realize now that he'll be booed just about anywhere.”Nick Pappas
#TrumpBooedAgain
Gee…I wonder what changed?
