By Sheera Frenkel, Nicholas Confessore, Cecilia Kang, Matthew Rosenberg and Jack Nicas
Kremlin receive to disrupt the 2016 American election. Congressional too federal investigators were closing inwards on evidence that would implicate the company.
But it wasn’t the looming disaster at Facebook that angered Ms. Sandberg. It was the social network’s safety chief, Alex Stamos, who had informed companionship board members the hateful solar daytime earlier that Facebook had soundless to comprise the Russian infestation. Mr. Stamos’s briefing had prompted a humiliating boardroom query of Ms. Sandberg, Facebook’s primary operating officer, too her billionaire boss. She appeared to regard the admission every bit a betrayal.
“You threw us nether the bus!” she yelled at Mr. Stamos, according to people who were present.
The clash that hateful solar daytime would laid off a reckoning — for Mr. Zuckerberg, for Ms. Sandberg too for the concern they had built together. In only over a decade, Facebook has connected to a greater extent than than 2.2 billion people, a global patch unto itself that reshaped political campaigns, the advertising concern too daily life around the world. Along the way, Facebook accumulated 1 of the largest-ever repositories of personal data, a treasure trove of photos, messages too likes that propelled the companionship into the Fortune 500.
But every bit evidence accumulated that Facebook’s mightiness could every bit good hold upwardly exploited to disrupt elections, broadcast viral propaganda too inspire deadly campaigns of abhor around the globe, Mr. Zuckerberg too Ms. Sandberg stumbled. Bent on growth, the twosome ignored alert signs too and then sought to conceal them from populace view. At critical moments over the final 3 years, they were distracted past times personal projects, too passed off safety too policy decisions to subordinates, according to electrical flow too one-time executives.
Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s primary operating officer, has overseen an aggressive receive to care critics too ward off regulation.CreditJoshua Roberts/Reuters
When Facebook users learned final restrict that the companionship had compromised their privacy inwards its rush to expand, allowing access to the personal information of tens of millions of people to a political information theater linked to President Trump, Facebook sought to deflect blame too mask the extent of the problem.
And when that failed — every bit the company’s stock toll plummeted too it faced a consumer backlash — Facebook went on the attack.
While Mr. Zuckerberg has conducted a populace apology tour inwards the final year, Ms. Sandberg has overseen an aggressive lobbying receive to scrap Facebook’s critics, shift populace anger toward challenger companies too ward off damaging regulation. Facebook employed a Republican opposition-research theater to discredit activist protesters, inwards constituent past times linking them to the liberal financier George Soros. It every bit good tapped its concern relationships, lobbying a Jewish civil rights grouping to cast about criticism of the companionship every bit anti-Semitic.
In Washington, allies of Facebook, including Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate leader, intervened on its behalf. And Ms. Sandberg wooed or cajoled hostile lawmakers, piece trying to dispel Facebook’s reputation every bit a bastion of Bay Area liberalism.
This concern human relationship of how Mr. Zuckerberg too Ms. Sandberg navigated Facebook’s cascading crises, much of which has non been previously reported, is based on interviews alongside to a greater extent than than l people. They include electrical flow too one-time Facebook executives too other employees, lawmakers too authorities officials, lobbyists too congressional staff members. Most spoke on the status of anonymity because they had signed confidentiality agreements, were non authorized to beak to reporters or feared retaliation.
Facebook declined to brand Mr. Zuckerberg too Ms. Sandberg available for comment. In a statement, a spokesman acknowledged that Facebook had been irksome to address its challenges but had since made progress fixing the platform.
“This has been a tough fourth dimension at Facebook too our entire direction squad has been focused on tackling the issues nosotros face,” the contention said. “While these are difficult problems nosotros are working difficult to ensure that people notice our products useful too that nosotros protect our community from bad actors.”
Even so, trust inwards the social network has sunk, piece its pell-mell increment has slowed. Regulators too police enforcement officials inwards the U.S. of America too Europe are investigating Facebook’s bear alongside Cambridge Analytica, a political information theater that worked alongside Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign, opening upwardly the companionship to fines too other liability. Both the Trump management too lawmakers accept begun crafting proposals for a national privacy law, setting upwardly a yearslong struggle over the hereafter of Facebook’s data-hungry concern model.
[Despite a turbulent 2 years, here’s why around no 1 inwards tech thinks Mark Zuckerberg should step downwardly from the companionship he built.]
“We failed to hold off too endeavour to imagine what was hiding behind corners,” Elliot Schrage, one-time vice president for global communications, marketing too populace policy at Facebook, said inwards an interview.
Mr. Zuckerberg, 34, too Ms. Sandberg, 49, stay at the company’s helm, piece Mr. Stamos too other high-profile executives accept leftafter disputes over Facebook’s priorities. Mr. Zuckerberg, who controls the social network alongside threescore pct of the voting shares too who approved many of its directors, has been asked repeatedly inwards the final yr whether he should stride downwardly every bit primary executive.
Buat lebih berguna, kongsi:
