Facebook Employees Leave 5-Star Amazon Reviews of Platform’s Own ‘Portal’ Product

Facebook executive Andrew Bosworth claimed he would ask employees to take down 5-star Amazon reviews they had left for the company’s own smart camera product, Portal.

New York Times tech columnist Kevin Roose discovered that at least three glowing 5-star reviews of Portal on Amazon came from users with the same names as Facebook employees.

“Speaking of coordinated inauthentic behavior, what are the odds that all these 5-star Facebook Portal reviewers on Amazon just happen to have the same names as Facebook employees?” posted Roose to Twitter, Thursday, along with screenshots.

Speaking of coordinated inauthentic behavior, what are the odds that all these 5-star Facebook Portal reviewers on Amazon just happen to have the same names as Facebook employees? pic.twitter.com/bF7U8Fj5kN

— Kevin Roose (@kevinroose) January 17, 2019

“I have historically not been a big Facebook or other social media user, but I took a chance and got 4 Portals and 1 Portal plus for the family just before Thanksgiving,” declared one alleged Facebook head in a 5-star review. “We are all having a blast video calling and hanging out for several hours at a time.”

“Really cool camera tracking tech,” wrote another alleged Facebook employee.

Roose also pointed out on Twitter that it is against Amazon’s rules to leave reviews for products created by your employer.

“It’s also not exactly an indicator of confidence in how well they’re selling organically!” Roose proclaimed.

Reviewing your employer's products is definitely against Amazon's rules. It's also not exactly an indicator of confidence in how well they're selling organically! pic.twitter.com/vcXzderCXZ

— Kevin Roose (@kevinroose) January 17, 2019

The post led to Facebook executive Andrew Bosworth posting a statement noting the reviews were “neither coordinated nor directed from the company,” and adding that he had asked the employees to remove the reviews.

neither coordinated nor directed from the company. From an internal post at the launch: “We, unequivocally, DO NOT want Facebook employees to engage in leaving reviews for the products that we sell to Amazon.” We will ask them to take down.

— Boz (@boztank) January 17, 2019

Facebook launched Portal late last year in an attempt to rival smart home devices from Amazon, Apple, and Google.

The product, with facial recognition and the ability to collect video call data for advertisements, turned many consumers off, however, in the wake of Facebook’s numerous user data scandals in the same year.