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Sheryl Sandberg Is Said to Have Asked Facebook Staff to Research George Soros

nytimes.com

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Re: Sheryl Sandberg Is Said to Have Asked Facebook Staff to Research George Soros

#41

Post by astronautjones »

mc32 wrote: post #29
digitalzombie wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Well, he is an investor who has a history of causing financial damage to whole countries by betting against their currencies. So you're judging him on the fact that he plays Forex and short? If they didn't want that then it should be made illegal. This is a dubious statement.

It's not a judgement. It's just a fact. And the possibility exists he'd exact the same thing on a target like FB. It's just prudent on their part to look at the seriousness of the implications.

> And the possibility exists he'd exact the same thing on a target like FB.

thinking that this is possible is disingenuous and such a conservative fever dream.

Re: Sheryl Sandberg Is Said to Have Asked Facebook Staff to Research George Soros

#42

Post by marcelluspye »

mc32 wrote: post #2

>told subordinates to examine why Mr. Soros had criticized the tech companies and whether he stood to gain financially from the attacks. Well, he is an investor who has a history of causing financial damage to whole countries by betting against their currencies. So, it shouldn't be surprising FB would want to know what might be in store for them if he went nuclear on them. What is surprising is the odd bedfellows of…

>What is surprising is the odd bedfellows of Soros on the left and others on the right clamoring for FB regulation. I probably agree they need some kind of regulation --but one more generalized to all user-facing internet companies (colloquially "user is the product" companies).

Your last point is worded as if Soros is the sole and direct cause of the clamor. I think the more likely cause is the large number of (elderly -- voting!) people for whom facebook is the internet. It serves politicians to play to this confusion, as it gives them a clear company/CEO to point the finger at to appear 'tough on the bad things happening on the internet.' Bill Gates used to be the 'computer person' to old people (the president said in 2015, "We have to see Bill Gates and a lot of different people that really understand what’s happening. We have to talk to them about, maybe in certain areas, closing that Internet up in some way." in regards to the internet), and now it's Zuckerberg.

Re: Sheryl Sandberg Is Said to Have Asked Facebook Staff to Research George Soros

#43

Post by mc32 »

astronautjones wrote: post #41
mc32 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a judgement. It's just a fact. And the possibility exists he'd exact the same thing on a target like FB. It's just prudent on their part to look at the seriousness of the implications.

> And the possibility exists he'd exact the same thing on a target like FB. thinking that this is possible is disingenuous and such a conservative fever dream.

So Sheryll is now a conservative? Uhhuh.

Re: Sheryl Sandberg Is Said to Have Asked Facebook Staff to Research George Soros

#44

Post by an_opabinia »

askafriend wrote: post #11
mc32 wrote: post #2

>told subordinates to examine why Mr. Soros had criticized the tech companies and whether he stood to gain financially from the attacks. Well, he is an investor who has a history of causing financial damage to whole countries by betting against their currencies. So, it shouldn't be surprising FB would want to know what might be in store for them if he went nuclear on them. What is surprising is the odd bedfellows of…

If someone is publicly saying questionable things about your organization, then trying to find out what their motivations might be by doing research is just common sense (especially if the company in question is publicly traded). So I'm with you there, I don't get the outrage here at all. It comes off as cheap and manufactured from what I'm seeing.

Everyone should read his comments[0] about Facebook and Google, before you criticize the guy.

> what their motivations might be by doing research is just common sense

The rhetoric that you guys use, especially when you talk about someone who's probably as genuinely committed to a civil, liberal world as George Soros: you sound like a South Park character. You can watch a clip that uses conspiratorial rhetoric (and makes fun of it) here: [1].

And I think the amazing thing is, it's not that South Park turned into this right-leaning children's TV show. It's that Republicans, libertarians and just cocky, downvoting male engineers alike have all started to turn into South Park.

"What you gotta understand [Hacker News], everyone has an agenda."

[0] https://www.georgesoros.com/2018/01/25/remarks-delivered-at-...

[1] https://southpark.cc.com/clips/mqwfxt/its-right-there

Re: Sheryl Sandberg Is Said to Have Asked Facebook Staff to Research George Soros

#45

Post by pstuart »

askafriend wrote: post #11
mc32 wrote: post #2

>told subordinates to examine why Mr. Soros had criticized the tech companies and whether he stood to gain financially from the attacks. Well, he is an investor who has a history of causing financial damage to whole countries by betting against their currencies. So, it shouldn't be surprising FB would want to know what might be in store for them if he went nuclear on them. What is surprising is the odd bedfellows of…

If someone is publicly saying questionable things about your organization, then trying to find out what their motivations might be by doing research is just common sense (especially if the company in question is publicly traded). So I'm with you there, I don't get the outrage here at all. It comes off as cheap and manufactured from what I'm seeing.

It's not like he's alone in criticizing Facebook, and with good reason.

Re: Sheryl Sandberg Is Said to Have Asked Facebook Staff to Research George Soros

#47

Post by stevenwoo »

mc32 wrote: post #30
vtesucks wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't mind leaning left or right. I mind lying left and right.

Right. But the NYT is not the old NYT. They are not NPR-quality any more.

The NYT has been around a long time and at various times has written multiple glowing articles about Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler and other despots of all stripes which does not speak well of ye old NYT. It is difficult to find a disparaging word in any of their coverage of current day neo Nazis in the USA when they have done extensive interviews. One needs to judge each article on its own merits.

Re: Sheryl Sandberg Is Said to Have Asked Facebook Staff to Research George Soros

#48

Post by chokolad »

mc32 wrote: post #43
astronautjones wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And the possibility exists he'd exact the same thing on a target like FB. thinking that this is possible is disingenuous and such a conservative fever dream.

So Sheryll is now a conservative? Uhhuh.

Apparently also anti-Semite.

Re: Sheryl Sandberg Is Said to Have Asked Facebook Staff to Research George Soros

#49

Post by SquishyPanda23 »

an_opabinia wrote: post #44
askafriend wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If someone is publicly saying questionable things about your organization, then trying to find out what their motivations might be by doing research is just common sense (especially if the company in question is publicly traded). So I'm with you there, I don't get the outrage here at all. It comes off as cheap and manufactured from what I'm seeing.

Everyone should read his comments[0] about Facebook and Google, before you criticize the guy. > what their motivations might be by doing research is just common sense The rhetoric that you guys use, especially when you talk about someone who's probably as genuinely committed to a civil, liberal world as George Soros: you sound like a South Park character. You can watch a clip that uses conspiratorial rhetoric (and ma…

> it's not that South Park turned into this right-leaning children's TV show.

I have no idea what you're referring to with the South Park reference and George Soros, I don't really follow the show.

But South Park has actually long been considered right-leaning by some people, e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Park_Republican

As far as I can tell the main people who hold this view are right-leaning, e.g. https://www.city-journal.org/html/we%E2%80%99re-not-losing-c...

I usually see the creators referred to as libertarians. E.g. Matt Stone saying "I hate conservatives, but I really fucking hate liberals."

Re: Sheryl Sandberg Is Said to Have Asked Facebook Staff to Research George Soros

#50

Post by starik36 »

askafriend wrote: post #19
docbrown wrote: post #3

This may be an unpopular opinion but here it is: Zuckerburg started this as a hobby with it being something he may never have thought of becoming full-scale. Fast forward to today and Zuckerburg is in over his head. He has control over this !massive! amount of data that companies are chomping at the bit for. He’s trying to make sure his company survives and his product does no harm. But, he’s losing control. They’re…

Your comment is quite far off from reality. To address your first point: he started the company deliberately. He had sold a successful company before Facebook. He also turned down multi-billion dollar acquisition offers because he knew exactly what he was doing and what the opportunity was. Many of the funding rounds for FB were red hot and everyone was trying to get in. And to your second point: what he built is unp…

What business did he sell before Facebook?
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