The Daily Beast reportedly worked with Facebook to dox a black forklift driver and supposed Trump supporter for allegedly creating a parody video of Democrat speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi — now he’s planning to take them to court.
Breitbart News previously reported that the Daily Beast identified the creator of a parody video of Democrat speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, as Shawn Brooks. The Daily Beast claimed that Brook is a forklift driver and Trump supporter who lived in the Bronx, since then a Twitter account claiming to be Brooks has disputed these details stating that he is not a Trump supporter, did not produce the video of Pelosi, and does not live in the Bronx.
But what was even more worrying about the scenario is the implication that Facebook provided the Daily Beast with information on Brooks’ activity on their platform, something which should cause concern for all Facebook users. The Daily Beast stated in its article:
It’s conceivable that someone else actually edited the clip. But a Facebook official, confirming a Daily Beast investigation, said the video was first posted on Politics WatchDog directly from Brooks’ personal Facebook account. [emphasis ours]
Breitbart News reporter Allum Bokhari stated in his article on the issue:
If the Daily Beast’s description of Facebook’s actions is accurate, Facebook compromised the privacy of one of its users, handing over information on his activity to a journalist who was clearly engaged in a politically motivated hatchet-job.
Facebook has been rocked by repeated privacy scandals over the past two years, including giving major corporations access to user data without permission. CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently unveiled a re-branding effort emphasizing the company’s commitment to protecting the privacy of its users.
Now, Brooks has started a legal defense fund on GoFundme as he plans to sue the Daily Beast and Facebook. Brooks states on the GoFundMe page: “I’m looking at my options for possible legal action against anyone who was associated in publishing that inaccurate trash article about me, misquoting me and accusing me of being the creator of the Speaker Pelosi video that went viral.”
According to Peter D’Abrosca of Big League Politics and Jack Posobiec of the One America News Network, wealthy benefactors are attempting to contact Brooks to fund the lawsuit:
One of these benefactors just reached out to me – without prompting – and confirmed this report.
This is a very serious person who is experienced in lawfare… https://t.co/PWsdm5Lf97
— Peter D'Abrosca (@pdabrosca) June 2, 2019
Brooks’ GoFundMe page has a goal of $10,000 dollars which he says was an arbitrary figure he chose as he is unaware of how much his legal fees will be. So far he has received $6,015.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com
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