Facebook COO has denied knowledge of campaign against liberal billionaire conducted on company’s behalf by consulting firm Definers
Facebook has acknowledged that COO Sheryl Sandberg requested in January that employees investigate whether billionaire George Soros had criticized the company in an effort to enrich himself.
“We researched potential motivations behind George Soros’s criticism of Facebook in January 2018. Mr. Soros is a prominent investor and we looked into his investments and trading activity related to Facebook,” a Facebook representative said in a statement provided to TheWrap.
“That research was already underway when Sheryl sent an email asking if Mr. Soros had shorted Facebook’s stock. Sheryl never directed research on ‘Freedom from Facebook,’” the statement said, a reference to an anti-Facebook coalition whose members were later targeted by a consulting group hired by the company. “But as she said before she takes full responsibility for any activity that happened on her watch.”
The statement follows a New York Times report Thursday night that Sandberg’s request came after a speech by Soros at the World Economic Forum, in which he called for tech companies like Facebook and Google to be regulated by the government.
