Mark Zuckerberg is forced to publicly contend with a new critic today: His very own board.
Following the Nov. 14 New York Times bombshell report detailing a host of gross miscalculations and alleged malfeasance at the social media giant both in the run up to and following the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the Facebook board has come out with a statement. And oh boy, even filtered through innumerable layers of corporate speak the message is clear: Board members aren’t happy with Mark Zuckerberg.
“As Mark and Sheryl [Sandberg] made clear to Congress, the company was too slow to spot Russian interference, and too slow to take action,” read the statement, tweeted by Mike Isaac of the New York Times, in part. “As a board we did indeed push them to move faster.”
Translation: Zuckerberg and Sandberg were moving too slowly, and needed a strong kick in the pants.
The statement goes on to say that it would be “grossly unfair” to suggest the two execs “tried to ignore [Russian interference] or prevent investigations” into it, but still, to issue anything less than a full-throated statement of support at a moment when Mark Zuckerberg once again finds himself in the hot seat is more than a little telling.
The Facebook board statement was punctuated by a Nov. 15 conference call with the press, in which Zuckerberg said that he only learned about Facebook’s hiring of Definers — an opposition research firm accused of using anti-Semitism to discredit Facebook critics — by reading the New York Times story about it.
So, maybe it’s true that Zuckerberg didn’t try to interfere with his company’s investigation into the Russian government’s attempt to influence the 2016 presidential election. But, it’s also possible that that’s only true because he wasn’t really paying attention to any of it in the first place.
Either way, it looks like Zuckerberg will be keeping a close eye on things going forward — even if only because his board demands it.
In the wake of yesterday’s bombshell New York Times report, Facebook is defending itself from a multitude of allegations that appear in the story.
The company is outright denying its reported hesitation to investigate Russian interference on its platform during the 2016 presidential election, but several other allegations from the story have been explained by the company in a way that suggests they’re at least partially true.
Let’s start with the biggest allegation from the story: The claim that Facebook knew about Russian meddling on its platform earlier than it had previously stated.
The New York Times reports that Facebook’s former chief security officer Alex Stamos began investigating Russian propaganda on the network with a small team in the spring of 2016. The story adds that Stamos and his team were ready to publish a report on the investigation in January 2017, but Facebook’s vice president for corporate public policy Joel Kaplan fought to scuttle and obfuscate the investigation’s results.
The report claims Kaplan was concerned the findings of the internal investigation would make Facebook appear to be biased against conservative viewpoints and Republicans.
Facebook said in a statement Thursday that this allegation is simply “not true.”
Facebook cites Mark Zuckerberg’s sworn testimony to Congress in April, where the company’s founder said under oath, “Leading up to Election Day in November 2016, we detected and dealt with several threats with ties to Russia… We shut these accounts down for violating our policies.”
Facebook also denied the allegation by referring to a March tweet where Stamos said, “to be clear, the security team has never been prevented or discouraged from investigating any Russian activity by any executives.”
To be clear, the security team has never been prevented or discouraged from investigating any Russian activity by any executives. https://t.co/At2KSn8oXE
As for the allegation that the fear of conservative backlash prompted the company to leave then-candidate Donald Trump’s Muslim ban post up on the website, Facebook claims it let the post stand for different reasons.
“We did decide that President Trump’s comments on the Muslim ban, while abhorrent to many people, did not break our Community Standards,” Facebook said. The company added that the post was also newsworthy because Donald Trump was a candidate for office.
Facebook also reasserted that it is fully committed to fighting misinformation on the platform. “Mark and Sheryl have been deeply involved in the fight against false news and information operations on Facebook,” the company said.
The New York Times reported that Facebook indirectly created fake news stories by hiring a third party — Definers Public Affairs — that published negative stories about Facebook’s competitors and critics via its affiliate conservative news website NTK Network. Facebook cut ties with the organization on Thursday.
The company also defended its position on the sex trafficking law Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA). “Sheryl championed this legislation because she believed it was the right thing to do,” the company said in regards to the claims that it supported the bill in order to appease lawmakers.
Finally, Facebook addressed the accusation that Mark Zuckerberg was so angered by Apple CEO Tim Cook’s criticism of the social network, that the Facebook founder ordered company management to use Android phones only.
In its response, Facebook did not outright deny the assertion that Zuckerberg told employees to use Android phones over Apple’s iPhone and explained with a dig at Cook. The reason Zuckerberg encouraged Android use, the post says, is because Android is “the most popular operating system in the world.”
Prior to Thursday’s game against the Houston Rockets, Green told reporters he spoke with Durant about the incident and the team’s recent history of success indicates things have worked out well for them.
“We’re not going to crumble off an argument,” Green said, per ESPN’s Nick Friedell.
Green also addressed the possibility of Durant leaving Golden State as a free agent this summer.
I’m never going to change who I am,” he said, per Hunter Atkinsof the Houston Chronicle. “…I read a lot about how…’Did I force Kevin to leave?’…Whatever Kevin decides to do, whatever Klay decides to do, we had great years together. I support everybody.”
The Warriors had a chance to beat the Clippers in regulation when Green grabbed a defensive rebound with six seconds remaining. Durant was seen appearing to call for the ball, but Green decided to keep it for himself and was unable to get a shot off before time ran out.
After Durant and Green exchanged words on the Warriors’ bench before the start of overtime, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Marc J. Spears reported the argument carried over into the locker room after the game with other Golden State players “loudly confronting” Green in an “intense” scene.
The WarriorsannouncedGreen had been suspended without pay for Tuesday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks for conduct detrimental to the team.
One anonymous Golden State player told The Athletic’sMarcus Thompson II after the incident “there is already no way” that Durant will re-sign with the Warriors.
“The only hope is that they can say this summer, ‘See, KD. We’ve got your back. We protected you from Draymond,’” the player said.
Durant can opt out of his current deal at the conclusion of this season. He’s won back-to-back NBA titles and NBA Finals MVP awards in his first two years with the Warriors.
Green has spent his entire seven-year career in Golden State, winning three NBA titles in the past four seasons. The 28-year-old is under contract with the Warriors through the 2019-20 season.
France funded 51 percent of the project, which also received money from Morocco and several Gulf states [Christophe Archambault/Reuters]
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI and French President Emmanuel Macron have inaugurated what has been described as Africa‘s fastest train, with a trip from the northwestern city of Tangier to the capital, Rabat.
The railway, known as the LGV, will more than halve the travel time between the industrial and commercial hubs of Casablanca and Tangier to two hours and 10 minutes, instead of four hours and 45 minutes, according to officials.
The project was completed after seven years of work in a 22.9bn dirhams ($2.4bn) project joint-funded by France, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
Morocco bought 12 double-decker high-speed trains from the French group Alstom to be operated by the state-owned railway ONCF, which expects six million passengers to use the new service annually.
The king and the French president on Thursday boarded the train at Tangier after they were handed tickets by the Director General of Morocco’s National Railway Office, Mohamed Rabie Khlie, according to state news agency MAP.
Last year, Jean-Yves Le Drian, France’s foreign minister, called the railway “the fastest train on the African continent” during a visit to Morocco to sign a loan deal between the ONCF and the French Development Agency.
Authorities have said the project is part of a larger rail plan aimed at upgrading Morocco’s transportation system and boosting the economy.
However, the new line has not been without its controversies.
The high cost has drawn criticism, with some saying the project was not a priority and the money would have been better spent on health and education.
Critics also say it has flagged disparities in spending between the north and south of the country – vast southern regions and major cities such as Agadir are without a basic rail service.
A derailment in October near Kenitra, 15km north of Rabat, which killed seven people and injured 125 others, sparked further criticism and calls for increased funding to improve safety and infrastructure as well as the punctuality of basic railway services.
Thursday’s launch marks the end of a seven-year project [Youssef Boudlal/Reuters]
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had vowed to call up the criminal justice package if it’s shown to have 60 yes votes. | Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo
The majority leader remains skeptical over the bill that divides his caucus.
A bipartisan criminal justice overhaul ran into fresh political obstacles in the Senate on Thursday, mere hours after winning President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
Supporters of the proposal, which would change prison and sentencing laws, see the current lame-duck session as their best chance for success on a revamp that top senators in both parties have spent years negotiating. But the deal already faced resistance from hawkish Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), and on Thursday the National Sheriffs’ Association joined two other law enforcement groups in slamming the current version of the measure as “troubling.”
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That’s on top of repeated skepticism from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who had vowed to call up the criminal justice package if it’s shown to have 60 yes votes — and Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), the lead sponsor of a narrower bill that only tackles prisons, not lowering sentencing requirements. Trump said Wednesday that he’ll be “waiting with a pen” for a final deal, but without Senate GOP leaders’ buy-in he could be waiting well into 2019.
Cornyn suggested that the bill’s backers may need to abandon their strategy and pursue a new bipartisan accord next year, after Democrats take power in the House. McConnell and several other GOP sources have warned that there is likely to be little time to take up a divisive debate unless all 100 senators support it, a long shot given the heated opinions about the bill.
“I think we can take it up next year. I don’t know what Ms. [Nancy] Pelosi’s thought would be about changing what the House has done already,” Cornyn said in an interview. “But to me, this whole subject is one where there is bipartisan support.”
While GOP leaders sent go-slow signals, Cotton needled Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chief author of the criminal justice compromise, with a push for a public hearing on the legislation — a version of which already has passed the committee.
“He doesn’t like our bill, and so, anything he can do to stall it, he wants to stall it,” Grassley responded. “But we don’t need a hearing on a bill that’s been around for five years.”
Advocacy groups lobbying for the prison-and-sentencing agreement, led in the White House by Trump son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, cheered a recent statement of support from the Fraternal Order of Police. But they suffered a setback Thursday when the National Sheriffs’ Association, alongside the Major Cities Chiefs’ Association and the Major County Sheriffs of America, warned Senate leaders that they couldn’t support the current version without five changes, as a starting point.
Without those changes at a minimum, the groups wrote in a Thursday letter obtained by POLITICO, “this legislation creates a high-risk path for dangerous criminals with gun crime histories to early release from prison.”
Kushner has spent much of his time in Washington shuttling between the White House and Capitol Hill trying to hammer out a bipartisan compromise. McConnell, with whom Kushner met several times to discuss the legislation, asked him to table the bill until after the midterm elections, according to a senior administration official.
The timing worked in Kushner’s favor: The president, reeling from defeats in the midterm elections and fuming about bad headlines generated by his decision to cancel a visit to a World War I cemetery outside of Paris last weekend, is eager to tout a legislative victory. Kushner presented the legislation to Trump on Tuesday, a day filled with more misery-making headlines for the White House, including the first lady’s public call for the dismissal of the deputy national security adviser, whom the White House said Wednesday would be reassigned to another job in the administration.
Trump touted the bill as a bipartisan solution to a long-simmering problem. “Did I heard the word ‘bipartisan’? Did I hear — did I hear that word? That’s a nice word,” the president told the crowd assembled in the Roosevelt Room, which included Grassley, as well as Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and Tim Scott (R-S.C.).
In addition to provisions lowering mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug-related felonies, the compromise proposal would require inmates to be incarcerated closer to their homes, expand a program for early release and promote training programs in prisons. The backing of a president who has cast himself as tough on crime was critical to an effort that has stalled multiple times on Capitol Hill.
And Thursday wasn’t without its victories for the long-shot criminal justice push. Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.), a close Trump ally seen as undecided by advocacy groups backing the bill, said he’s “in general support of” the text he’s seen.
“I’ve got to see the final text,” Perdue cautioned, “but I’m supportive of what I’ve seen so far.”
Scott pointed to the House’s “convincing, overwhelming” bipartisan vote earlier this year for a version that didn’t include the negotiated changes to sentencing rules.
“Anyone who [has] not fully understood the legislation, it’s not because it’s not available. It’s out there,” the South Carolinian said in an interview. “I think we could take it to the floor and vote for it, vote it up or down.” And the bill would “without question” get to the needed 60 supporters if it received that vote, Scott added.
Paul, however, said it’s still up to the majority leader.
“It needs to be done. It depends on one person: Sen. McConnell. If he allows a vote it passes with 65 to 70 votes. I think almost every Democrat votes for it,” Paul said on Thursday. “Some of them are complaining it’s not enough. But it doesn’t do anything bad. Everything it does is good.”
Just when you had finally memorized every addictive word and every stunning vocal run on Normani‘s recently released collabs with Calvin Harris, she’s come through with yet another tune that might be her best yet.
On Thursday (November 15), Normani blessed fans’ ears with “Waves,” a seductive slow jam featuring Atlanta’s 6LACK. Heavy with love-soaked lyrics of an all-consuming relationship, “Waves” doubles down on the cover art’s ’90s feel with a heavy R&B beat. “First I blame you, then I want you / Fucking hate you, then I love you / I can’t help myself, no,” Normani sings, before 6LACK comes through with his own moody verse about “making love on the full moon.” It’s a vibe.
Speaking with Beats 1 host Zane Lowe after the song’s premiere, Normani praised 6LACK as an “important” artist, saying, “He’s an amazing lyricist, and I feel like he took the record to a whole other level. I already love the record as is, but he totally exceeded any expectation I even had, which was pretty high, because I admire him as an artist.”
The former Fifth Harmony singer also took the opportunity to spill a little tea about her upcoming debut solo album — kind of. She made sure not to divulge too much, but did reveal that the album will be released at the top of 2019, and that its title has a number in it (I’m guessing it’s probably not a “five”). She also said Khalid would appear on the album, though their hit single “Love Lies” didn’t make the cut because it “was a moment of its own.”
Sounds like Normani will have a hefty arsenal of bops to dig into when she hits the road with Ariana Grande on the Sweetener World Tour next year. Until then, we’ll be riding these “waves” into the winter.
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In the ‘Nosedive’ episode of ‘Black Mirror,’ people are given ratings that determine their social status.
If you’ve ever wanted to feel what it’s like to be in an episode of Black Mirror, now’s your chance.
A Black Mirror-inspired board game called Nosedive was revealed Thursday, taking the existentially frightening Season 3 episode of the same name and turning it into a supposedly fun game to play with your friends and family.
Nosedive, a self-described social game, is based on the 2016 Black Mirror episode “Nosedive,” starring Bryce Dallas Howard, in which people have the ability to give each other star ratings with their phones. These public star ratings determine people’s social status, entry to events, and purchasing option — a take on how classism creates division in society and severely impacts those who are less fortunate.
The game, by Asmodee, tasks players with making the right decisions to increase their social score and “create the ‘perfect’ life.” You increase your score by collecting Lifestyle cards and offering other players certain life experiences through a companion app. Your fellow players rate you based on what you offer them.
‘Nosedive’ seems very stressful.
Image: asmodee
It seems like one of those games that can create some really stressful situation and potentially cause some schisms in your previously airtight relationships with other players. At the end of the day, Nosedive is a game so there has to be a winner and at least a couple of losers.
If the game is anything like the episode, getting a couple of low ratings in a row could have some devastating, snowball-like effects that end up with you covered in mud and unable to rent a decent car.
But sometimes you really shouldn’t be living your life trying to please everyone. You have to look out for numero uno — yourself. If you want to win Nosedive, though, prepare to do some ass kissing.
Facebook has decided to stop working with the consulting firm Definers, the company wrote in a statement published Thursday. It also denied that Facebook ever contracted Definers to do opposition research-style work on its behalf. The action comes in the wake of a sweeping New York Times article published Wednesday that included reports that Definers sought to bolster Facebook’s image by encouraging the publication of negative content about its competitors and critics.
“Lastly we wanted to address the issue of Definers, who we ended our contract with last night,” Facebook wrote. “The New York Times is wrong to suggest that we ever asked Definers to pay for or write articles on Facebook’s behalf – or to spread misinformation.”
The Times article published Wednesday reported on the actions of high-level leadership during the last three years at Facebook, which included the response to Russian manipulation on the platform, decisions around hate speech, and the ways the company sought to bolster its political relationships and public image, while avoiding regulations.
One of the ways it reportedly did so was through work with Definers, a consulting firm founded by Republican political operatives. Definers reportedly advised opposition research style tactics, which means pushing out damaging content about competitors and critics.
For Facebook, this allegedly included bringing competitors like Google and Twitter into the election manipulation conversation, disparaging Apple, exposing that a grassroots anti-Facebook campaign was funded by George Soros, and accusing those protesters of anti-semitism.
The Times did note in its original article that Facebook did not pay for the anti-Apple press release items, published by the Definers affiliate NTK-Network. Another unnamed technology company reportedly paid for negative Apple press releases, which were in turn picked up by outlets like Breitbart. But Definers official Tim Miller reportedly told the Times that regarding Apple and privacy, “Facebook is happy to ‘muddy the waters.’”
Facebook responded to the Times article in a statement largely denying the reports of how its executives responded, in real time, to election manipulation and hate speech threats online. Curiously, it did not deny reports of Facebook’s beef with Apple in the wake of Tim Cook’s comments criticizing Facebook on privacy — which it used as its reason why it never hired Definers to criticize Apple. That beef included Zuckerberg “encouraging” employees to use Android phones instead of iPhones.
“Tim Cook has consistently criticized our business model and Mark has been equally clear he disagrees,” Facebook wrote. “So there’s been no need to employ anyone else to do this for us.”
In other words, Apple says it can fight its street battles itself.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred was given a five-year contract extension Thursday through 2024, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
Nightengale added that the MLB owners unanimously approved the extension.
The 60-year-old Manfred was named commissioner in 2015 following the retirement of Bud Selig.
During his tenure as commissioner, Manfred has primarily focused on trying to increase the pace of play and shorten the length of games.
That began in 2015 when he instituted a rule preventing hitters from exiting the batter’s box.
This year, Manfred instituted a rule that limited teams to just six mound visits per game, and while there is no pitch clock at the MLB level yet, they were utilized in Double-A and Triple-A during the 2018 season.
According toBaseball Reference, pace of play rules dropped the time of an average MLB game from 3:07 in 2014 to 3:00 in 2015, but it climbed back up to 3:08 in 2017 before falling to 3:04 last season.
PerMaury BrownofForbes, 69,625,244 people attended MLB games during the 2018 MLB regular season, which represented a 4 percent drop in per-game attendance from the previous year.
It also marked the first time since 2003 that fewer than 70,000,000 people attended MLB games over the course of a season.
Looking ahead to 2019, Manfred is looking to further MLB’s global reach by having the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox play a two-game series in London in June.
A parliamentary committee in South Africa has backed a recommendation to amend the constitution to allow for land expropriation without compensation.
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) aims to change the constitution to allow for the new legislation to address racial disparities in ownership that persist more than two decades after apartheid’s demise in 1994.
Its legislators on the Constitutional Review Committee, along with those of the leftist Economic Freedom fighters voted in favour of the proposed change on Thursday. The amendment was rejected by the main opposition Democratic Alliance.
“South Africans have spoken, loud and clear, and we listened to their cry,” Lewis Nzimande, co-chairperson of the committee, said in a statement.
“This has truly been a massive project. We have seen people queuing for long periods, just to make sure they have a say on the matter.”
The review team’s recommendation will now go to the national assembly for consideration. The panel’s conclusions are likely to be challenged in court before a full vote by legislators to change the constitution.
STATEMENT OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS ON THE OUTCOMES OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW COMMITTEE ON LAND EXPROPRIATION WITHOUT COMPENSATION pic.twitter.com/trDJtIwHs3
AgriSA, an association of agricultural associations, criticised the committee’s recommendation, saying the amendment of section 25 of the constitution would be diametrically opposed to the protection of property rights and would gravely harm the economy.
Dan Kriek, Agri SA president, said his organisation would challenge the recommendation, which it termed “reckless and populist”, through its legal team.
“The proposed amendment is politically motivated and will cause large-scale damage to the South African economy,” he said.
“We shall do everything in our power to oppose an amendment.” – Ernest Pringle, Chair of Agri SA Centre of Excellence: Land.#AgriSA will roll out the next phase of its tactical plan against expropriation without compensation #EWChttps://t.co/q7tPIVOtsO
The issue of land remains among the most sensitive and divisive in the country.
At its core, apartheid was a discriminatory system that left black South Africans either dispossessed or denied access to land, infrastructure and resources, while their white counterparts were given preferential treatment and access to the economy.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ANC aims to change the constitution to allow for the new legislation to address racial disparities in ownership that persist more than two decades after apartheid’s demise in 1994.
It is estimated that white South Africans, who make up around nine percent of the population, own around 73 percent of the commercial agricultural land. As it stands, black people own more than 50 percent of agricultural land in just two of the country’s nine provinces.
The ANC faces tricky elections next year as its support has declined steadily since Nelson Mandela led it to victory in the 1994 poll. The ruling party has made the acceleration of land redistribution a key issue ahead of the elections.
Ramaphosa took office in February and has pledge to revive the economy and restore the party’s popularity after the nine-year reign of his scandal-tainted predecessor Jacob Zuma.
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