Profile
Facebook is a social media company that was founded in 2003 by Mark Zuckerberg. It trades in the data of over two billion users and their daily activity which has allowed Facebook to become an advertising behemoth. As one of the largest distributors of information globally, it has been accused of distributing fake news and aiding violence in India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma) and the United States, where fundamentalists have weaponized its ability to fan hatred and riots. Facebook has also been accused of censorship of gay and lesbian contents as well as activism in places like Kashmir, Kurdistan, Pakistan and Palestine.
Social Media Platform
Violations
| Top 5 Offense Groups (Groups Defined) | Penalty Total | Number of Records |
|---|---|---|
| consumer-protection-related offenses | $5,672,450,000 | 4 |
| financial offenses | $100,000,000 | 1 |
| employment-related offenses | $1,650,000 | 1 |
| miscellaneous offenses | $238,000 | 1 |
| safety-related offenses | $5,600 | 1 |
(May 9, 2021)
Stories
Meta has not done enough to safeguard children, whistleblower says
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has not done enough to safeguard children after Molly Russell’s death, according to a whistleblower who said the social media company
Study Finds Over 33 Million Instagram, TikTok Posts Promoting Harmful Content to Kids
The Ekō report came as a U.S. Senate panel held a hearing about online child sexual exploitation featuring testimony from five Big Tech CEOs.
Jan 31, 2024
9
Facebook and Instagram ran content sexualizing minors next to corporate ads, lawsuit says
Filing claims Meta did not adequately respond to Walmart and Match Group’s complaints of ‘deeply disturbing’ images and videos
Meta ‘stifling’ pro-Palestine voices on social media, rights group says
‘Censorship’ of hundreds of posts on Facebook, Instagram during Gaza war furthers ‘erasure of Palestinians’ suffering’.
Disinformation researcher accuses Meta of meddling in Harvard’s research
Joan Donovan says Harvard shuttered a research project on media manipulation after facing pressure from Meta.
By Justine Calma and Emilia David
Facebook and Instagram accused of creating a ‘marketplace’ for child predators in new lawsuit
The New Mexico state attorney general claims Meta’s platforms promoted teen accounts to child predators.
By Emma Roth, a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more.
FACEBOOK APPROVED AN ISRAELI AD CALLING FOR ASSASSINATION OF PRO-PALESTINE ACTIVIST
After the ad was discovered, digital rights advocates ran an experiment testing the limits of Facebook’s machine-learning moderation.
Ethiopia: Facebook algorithms contributed to human rights abuses against Tigrayans during conflict - New Report
Sixty-four-page report lays bare how Facebook’s algorithmic systems supercharged spread of harmful rhetoric targeting Tigrayan community
Failures by Facebook owner Meta ultimately contributed to killing of Tigrayan chemistry professor Meareg Amare
Even Prohibited, Vape Ads Are in Full Swing On Facebook and Insta
Propagandas de cigarros eletrônicos não são permitidos pela Meta e restritos no Brasil; mesmo assim, marketing dos produtos rola solto nas plataformas da empresa
INSTAGRAM CENSORED IMAGE OF GAZA HOSPITAL BOMBING, CLAIMS IT’S TOO SEXUAL
In responses to users who tried to post an alleged picture of the Gaza hospital bombing, Instagram and Facebook said it violated guidelines for sexual content or nudity.
Instagram apologizes for adding 'terrorist' to Palestinian bios
One user said his bio was auto-translated to include the phrase "Palestinian terrorist".
By Meera Navlakha on October 20, 2023
Palestine supporters say they're being 'shadow banned' on Instagram, TikTok
Pro-Palestinian users of platforms including Instagram and TikTok say they have fallen victim to the process of 'shadow banning', in which a platform limits the visibility of a user's posts without notifying them.
‘Facebook’s contractor forced me to work alongside my rapist’
Women working for Facebook’s former content moderator in Kenya allege they were sexually assaulted by a colleague
What Facebook knew about its Latino-aimed disinformation problem
It was October 2020, election conspiracy theories threatened to pull America apart at its seams, and Jessica González was trying to get one of the most powerful companies in the world to listen to her.
It wasn’t going well.
Facebook is 'overwhelmingly' used by sex traffickers who recruit victims online, according to a new report
Facebook set to soar throughout 2021, says BofA.
Facebook begins labeling, but not fact-checking, posts from Trump and Biden
New York (CNN Business)After President Donald Trump posted an unfounded claim to Facebook (FB) on Tuesday that mail-in voting could lead to a "corrupt election," the social network
Renegade Facebook Employees Form Task Force To Battle Fake News
Stephen Lam / Reuters
Facebook again refuses to ban political ads, even false ones
FILE - This Jan. 17, 2017, file photo shows a Facebook logo at Station F in Paris. Facebook has decided not to limit how political ads can be targeted to specific groups of people, as its main digital-ad rival Google did in November 2019 to fight misinformation.
This Is How Facebook Actually Won Trump the Presidency
Because Trump wasn’t spending as much on TV ads, it seemed like his team wasn't investing in changing minds. But they were: they were just doing it online.
Zuckerberg and Facebook face German probe over racist posts
German prosecutors are investigating senior managers of Facebook, including founder Mark Zuckerberg, over incitement allegations as the country’s authorities increase pressure on the social network to crack down on
Digital Democracy: How Google and Facebook Can Reshape Elections
As their reach has grown, social networks have become true political players: They can mobilize voters and bombard specific users with a candidate's content. Next year's German federal election will likely be the country's first data-driven campaign, and some lawmakers are worried.
How Activists Are Using Facebook Check-In to Help Dakota Access Pipeline Protesters
People around the globe are checking in on Facebook at the site of Dakota Access Pipeline protests in North Dakota, in an effort they hope will help protesters avoid detection by police.
Facebook censors Le Monde's mammogram screening photo
Facebook has apologised for removing a post by the French newspaper Le Monde about mammogram screening after yet again coming under fire for its aggressive anti-nudity policy.
Facebook revenge pornography trial 'could open floodgates'
A legal case against Facebook, which will involve a 14-year-old taking the company to court in Belfast over naked images published on the social network, could open t
Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe by Roger McNamee (2019)
Activism
Over 400 Advertisers Hit Pause On Facebook
Shannon Bond | NPR | July 1, 2020
When the Stop Hate for Profit campaign launched just two weeks ago, its organizers had not yet persuaded a single advertiser to boycott Facebook in July.
Facebook employees walk out in protest of Donald Trump’s posts
Makena Kelly | The Verge | June 1, 2020
Dozens of Facebook employees staged a virtual walkout on Monday in protest of the company’s decision not to take action against incendiary posts by President Donald Trump last week, according to The New York Times.
& Lawsuits
FTC Sues Facebook for Illegal Monopolization
United States Federal Trade Commission | December 9, 2020
The Federal Trade Commission today sued Facebook, alleging that the company is illegally maintaining its personal social networking monopoly through a years-long course of anticompetitive conduct.
Facebook antitrust investigation
Salvador Rodriguez | CNBC | November 9, 2019
After a three-year string of scandals, Facebook finds itself staring down four separate antitrust investigations, a former co-founder who wants the company split apart and a front-runner presidential candidate who has made the breakup of the company a key part of her campaign.
Facebook Worker Claims Racial Discrimination
Shannon Bond | NPR | July 2, 2020
In a complaint filed Thursday with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Oscar Veneszee Jr. said the social network does not give Black workers equal opportunities in their careers.
Bodies In Seats
Casey Newton | The Verge | June 19, 2019
The stress of the job weighed on Utley, according to his former co-workers, who, like all Facebook contractors at the Tampa site, must sign a 14-page nondisclosure agreement.
Former Facebook employees liken company to a cult
Salvador Rodriguez | CNBC | January 9, 2019
More than a dozen former Facebook employees detailed how the company’s leadership and its performance review system has created a culture where any dissent is discouraged.
Financials
Note: Most recent list is not always the most complete list.
- Facebook Inc Subsidiaries (via U.S. SEC 2020)
- Facebook Inc Subsidiaries (via U.S. SEC 2016)
- Facebook Inc Subsidiaries (via U.S. SEC 2014)
Croctail Subsidiary Tool using the CorpWatch API - This API uses automated parsers to extract the subsidiary relationship information from Exhibit 21 of companies' 10-K filings with the SEC.
Click here for the latest list.
Political Influence
OpenSecrets.org Profile of Facebook Inc
& Evasion
Amazon, Facebook and other tech giants paid almost $100B less in taxes than they claimed: analysis
Kenny Stancil | Salon | June 1, 2021
Bolstering demands for a global minimum tax to rein in corporations' evasive tactics, a new analysis released Monday showed that a half dozen Big Tech companies based in the United States paid almost $100 billion less in taxes over the past decade than stated in their annual reports.
Facebook, Google and Microsoft 'avoiding $3bn in tax in poorer nations'
The BBC | October 26, 2020
Google, Facebook and Microsoft should be paying more corporation tax in developing nations, says ActionAid.
Who’s Afraid of the IRS? Not Facebook.
Paul Kiel | ProPublica | January 23, 2020
In March 2008, as Facebook was speeding toward 100 million users and emerging as the next big tech company, it announced an important hire.
Facebook paid just £28m tax after record £1.6bn revenues in UK
Mark Sweney | The Guardian | October 11, 2019
Facebook’s UK operations paid £28m in corporation tax last year despite achieving a record £1.6bn in British sales.
Procurement
Facebook contracts with the U.S. Federal Government (via USA SPENDING).