NTK

<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">see definers etc</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">bad format here</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div><div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">no lnx many pix twt</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.globalwitness.org/en/blog/behind-trumps-border-wall-political-operatives-a-controversial-pr-firm-and-an-alleged-fake-news-site/">https://www.globalwitness.org/en/blog/behind-trumps-border-wall-political-operatives-a-controversial-pr-firm-and-an-alleged-fake-news-site/</a></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Global Witness exposes the link between a controversial right-leaning public affairs firm and President Trump’s reportedly favored company to build the southern border wall.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Summary</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">President Trump is boosting a particular firm, Fisher Sand & Gravel, whose owner is a donor to the Republican party, to build the border wall, which seems to go against the spirit of US federal procurement rules;</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Fisher Sand & Gravel have a previously unreported link with Definers Public Affairs, a DC communications firm which employs controversial tactics such as setting up anonymous attack websites on behalf of their commercial and political clients;</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Definers Public Affairs shares offices and staff with America Rising Corp and the America Rising PAC, Republican attack vehicles;</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Definers Public Affairs are known for paid-for attacks on environmentalists and commercial opponents of their clients – which led to Facebook severing its contract with them;&nbsp; &nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Individuals in<b>&nbsp;Definers Public Affairs have recently launched a new company, Crier Media Group, active in ‘media monitoring’ in both the US and the UK.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">United States President Donald Trump is accused of attempting to influence the procurement process for building the controversial border wall between Mexico and the US. According to the Washington Post, Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have repeatedly pushed the option of awarding the contract to Fisher Sand & Gravel, a family-owned construction firm from North Dakota that has a checkered past.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">WaPo_Fisher_headline_cropped.png</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The story of how Fisher Sand & Gravel Co, and its subsidiary, Fisher Industries, grabbed the President’s attention is partly a very modern one of publicity stunts and media frenzies, and partly an old tale of money and politics. Recent reporting has revealed Fisher Sand & Gravel’s past environmental violations and legal problems – although the company points out that these matters were resolved years ago.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Global Witness exposes a previously unreported link between Fisher Sand & Gravel and Definers Public Affairs, a controversial communications firm linked to Republican political operatives. From alleged smear campaigns to attack ads, Definers has been accused of devious and questionable methods to support their clients and negatively influence public opinion.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The best way to reach the President</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Tommy Fisher, the CEO of Fisher Industries,</b>&nbsp;has repeatedly appeared on Fox News, trumpeting his plans for a wall that he claims is faster and cheaper to build than rival designs by other companies. When interviewed by the Washington Post for his thoughts on why Trump supports the Fisher bid, the Republican Senator for North Dakota, Kevin Cramer, said of Tommy Fisher “He’s been very aggressive on TV,” and then asked “You know who else watches Fox News?”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">It may come as no surprise that both Tommy Fisher and his wife donated money to Senator Cramer’s Senate election campaign. The Senator has also boosted Fisher Industries on social media.&nbsp; CNN reported that:</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>“According to an administration official familiar with the situation, Cramer sent information about Fisher to the President's son-in-law and White House adviser Jared Kushner</b>, who then passed it along to the Army Corps of Engineers for their consideration. The source tells CNN that Kushner was not familiar with the company prior to getting information about them from Cramer.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Senator Cramer denied in his interview with the Washington Post that the donation has influenced his actions,</b>&nbsp;stating that his support had occurred before any donation and was because Tommy Fisher is “a constituent of mine”.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Other publicity grabbing moves have included Fisher Sand & Gravel building part of the border wall on private land, crowdfunded by a GoFundMe campaign for We Build The Wall, a non-profit organization that features well-known conservative personalities like Steve Bannon and Erik Prince on its advisory board.&nbsp;&nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Kyle Ehmke Tweet]</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Tommy Fisher seems a capable self-publicist.&nbsp; But it is possible that Fishers also worked with a controversial communications firm based in Washington, D.C., Definers Public Affairs to grab the President’s attention.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The link between the two was spotted by Kyle Ehmke, a ‘threat intelligence researcher’ with ThreatConnect, a cybersecurity company.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">When an individual or company sets up or is involved with several different websites, they sometimes use a common Google analytics account to monitor web traffic of the various sites.&nbsp; Each Google analytics account has a unique ID number which can be found in the coding of the website.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In this case, the person who set up and monitors web traffic at Definers Public Affairs also appears to have set up the website analytics for Fishers Sand & Gravel. Google analytics codes are unique – there cannot be two separate Google accounts that use the same code – nor can codes be added to a website by an outsider with no access to the source code of the website.&nbsp;&nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Therefore, since both sites use the same analytics code, it’s evident that, at a minimum, both the website analytics for the Definers’ website and the Fishers Sand & Gravel website were set up by the same person.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">It is also possible that the relationship between the two companies went further than just website monitoring. As we will see below, the same tracking code was used for numerous other websites set up on behalf of Definers clients. These included an anonymous website attacking Qatar and another supporting the point of view of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).&nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">[Trump_Fisher_meeting.png</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">SOURCE: TWITTER, @SENKEVINCRAMER]</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Foreign Agent Registration Act disclosures reveal that Definers staff members provided strategic communications guidance to the UAE, including one-on-one interactions with American news media</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. It is likely that the Qatar-related websites were part of the same package. While it is probable that Definers played some role in the new Fisher website, it is also possible that Definers provided a wider set of services to Fisher Sand & Gravel also.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Global Witness repeatedly approached both Fishers Sand & Gravel and its media representatives and Definers Public Affairs for comment on the extent of any relationship but did not receive a reply from either firm.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Fisher Industries already had an existing website at www.fisherind.com, but a new, professional looking website – specifically focused on the border wall (www.fishersandandgravel.com) was registered on January 4, 2018, around the same time that a new Twitter account was set up. Events then moved quickly. A new Facebook account was set up on January 5, the same day that Tommy Fisher was interviewed on Fox and Friends, a Fox News program known to be watched by President Trump.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">By March 13, 2018 Tommy Fisher had met President Trump in person.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>The controversy surrounding Definers Public Affairs</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Definers Public Affairs is best known for having its contract cancelled by Facebook in late 2018 after revelations in the New York Times about its aggressive tactics.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>The communications firm is closely related to America Rising Corp, a Republican opposition research&nbsp;</b>and attack firm which provides services to political clients, which has also set up America Rising PAC. America Rising PAC happily quotes a description of itself as “<b>The rabid pit bull of the Republican Party.”</b>&nbsp;Operatives associated with the groups follow Democratic Presidential candidates, filming all their public appearances. They also conduct background research on opponents. For example, their specialist lawyer, A<b>llan Blutstein, submitted freedom of information (FOIA) requests for the military and NASA discharge papers for Mark Kelly, a former astronaut and potential candidate in the 2020 Arizona Senate elections.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Both Definers and America Rising are closely linked to&nbsp;<b>NTK (Need to Know) Network,</b>&nbsp;which claims to be a news website “without the liberal bias”.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>All three entities share staff and office space in Arlington, Virginia.</b>&nbsp;Joe Pounder, Chief Executive of America Rising Corp, also describes himself as a co-founder of Definers Corp, and NTK Network lists him as their Editor-in-Chief; while Allan Blutstein has submitted FOIA requests for Definers, America Rising, America Rising Squared, and the NTK Network.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Newly filed corporate documents in the United Kingdom show that Definers staff, including the CEO Joe Pounder, and the Definers’ Chief Financial Officer, have set up a new entity – Crier Media Group - in both the UK and the US. Similar to Definers</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;Crier Media provides media monitoring services.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;(Definers have also set up UK Policy Group in the UK - claiming it was “bringing campaign-style research to corporate clients”.)&nbsp; According to LinkedIn records several Definers and UK Policy Group staff moved simultaneously to Crier Media Group.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">So, what’s the problem?</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">First, their working methods raise eyebrows, particularly in an era when Americans and others must wade through “fake news” infiltrating their social media feeds and news consumption on a daily basis. Starting with revelations of the Internet Research Agency, a Kremlin-affiliated troll farm and fake news network, sowing discord and undermining faith in American democratic institutions in the 2016 elections, Americans, big tech, and US officials are now constantly battling the influx of misinformation campaigns.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">[NTK_Network_Apple.png&nbsp;</font><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">SOURCE: FACEBOOK,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> NEED TO KNOW NETWORK]</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>NTK Network</b> purports to be a conservative news website. However, one former employee interviewed by NBC News described NTK as an “in-house fake news shop”.&nbsp; One pitch given to a potential client and leaked to the New York Times described NTK News as “a Digital Platform Echo Chamber.”&nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>NTK also has articles written by America Rising and Definers staff, according a former employee interviewed by the New York Time</b>s. Articles attacking the commercial rivals of Definers’ clients appear on the NTK website without any declarations of potential conflicts of interest. For example, NTK News published dozens of articles attacking Apple, without declaring that a closely related party,&nbsp;<b>Definers, reportedly had a contract with chipmaker Qualcomm, with whom Apple was engaged in a legal battle.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b style="">NTK also ran an extensive series of adverts on Facebook,&nbsp;</b>without declaring whether commercial clients were behind them. This demonstrates a loophole in Facebook’s advert disclosure program, whereby intermediaries can potentially declare themselves, and not their end clients, as the funder of the advertiseme</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">nt.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Common Google analytics tracking codes suggest that Definers are linked to a series of astro-turf websites for their client</b>s, sometimes without declaring who had set them up or was funding them. In one example, common Google analytics codes suggest that Definers had set up www.qatarcrisisnews.com and www.partnershipforpeace.org. The funder was later identified by K. Louise Neufeld, when<b> Joe Pounder and other Definers </b>staff registered as Foreign Agents to represent the <b>United Arab Emirates,</b> focusing in particular on “issues relating to client's termination of relations with Qatar and accuracy and transparency of Qatar government-owned media.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In other examples, environmental causes have been attacked by astro-turf websites, linked to Definers Public Affairs by common Google analytics codes. The They Cap You Pay website attacked proposed cap and trade (climate change-related) legislation in Oregon.&nbsp;&nbsp;</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Meanwhile, the&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Power the Future website –</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;which again shares the same tracking code and was also registered using a Definers email address&nbsp; – claims that “We are the voice of energy workers pushing back on radical green groups and the ideologues who fund them.” Power the Future is led by Daniel Turner, who hasn’t worked in the energy industry, but rather was a former Director of Strategic Communications at the Koch Institute.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The second problem is that the shift from political mud-slinging to widely reported attacks on commercial targets and environmentalists raises questions about both propriety and the transparency of funding of those seeking to shape the public debate.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">[Draft_Tim_Cook.jpg&nbsp;</font><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">SOURCE: DRAFTTIMCOOK.ORG]</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The aggressive political methods of the self-declared ‘rabid pit bulls’ of America Rising PAC are applied not only to declared candidates for public office. America Rising Squared, a not-for-profit entity, also apparently conducts media monitoring and attacks liberal and environmental causes. They followed<b>&nbsp;Bill McKibben</b>, a prominent environmentalist, for months, filming his every move. They aim to “hold the Environmentalist Left accountable by highlighting their hypocrisy and exposing their extreme rhetoric and agenda.”&nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style=""><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">During the attacks on Apple, which featured frequently on NTK network in late 2017, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">a website appeared suggesting that Apple’s CEO Tim Cook should be drafted as a Presidential candidate for 2020</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.&nbsp; The website gave no clue as to who was behind the initiative. This was covered, albeit somewhat skeptically, in the <b>Free Beacon, </b>a conservative leaning news outlet. Kyle Ehmke, of the ThreatConnect cybersecurity firm, spotted that the website shared the same Google analytics code as that for Definers Public Affairs.<b> Reporters guess that the purpose is to make Tim Cook appear like a potential rival to President Trump and thus, presumably, lessen Apple’s political influence with the White House.</b> If true, this can only be described as a tactic which is both inspired – but also devious. As mentioned previously, Definers reportedly had a <b>contract with chipmaker Qualcomm, a competitor of Apple</b> with whom they were also engaged in a legal battle.&nbsp; There is no suggestion that Qualcomm knew of such methods being used on their behalf.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Definers also gained an apparent no-bid contract with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide media monitoring – or ‘news analysis’ – service. This came during a period of intense controversy after Scott Pruitt, who still describes himself as “a leading advocate against the EPA’s activist agenda”, was appointed by President Trump as EPA Administrator. However,&nbsp;<b>Allan Blutstein,</b>&nbsp;the Definers Public Affair’s FOIA specialist, seems to have gone further than ‘news analysis</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">’.&nbsp; He began submitting FOIA requests about EPA employees suspected of being critical of Scott Pruitt and President Trump, requesting copies of emails which mentioned Pruitt or Trump. These FOIA requests were denounced by EPA staff as intimidation.&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>When interviewed by the New York Times, Mr Blutstein said that the purpose of the FOIA requests were simply to find out if any of the EPA employees had used agency email inappropriately, or had violated agency rules in some other way.</b></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>When criticized in the past in relation to their work for Facebook, Definers have denied being partisan, and stated that they only do communications not lobbyin</b>g.&nbsp; They also clarified that the nature of work for commercial clients is usually media monitoring services and that their opposition research forms a small part of work. Definers also state that, in any case, opposition research for commercial clients is entirely legitimate, usually drawing from public records. They vehemently deny smearing commercial opponents of their clients, and specifically say that it is wrong to suggest that NTK Network is used to attack commercial opponents.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Opacity</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">As both Definers and Fisher Sand & Gravel failed to respond to repeated requests to comment, it is impossible to determine the precise extent of their relationship. It could be that that they have an extensive relationship; including DC based communication and media booking services to get Tommy Fisher on conservative broadcast outlets like Fox and Friends.&nbsp; Or it could be that they have a minimal relationship – perhaps even just having had a shared Google analytics tracking account set up for them by a third party.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">[NTK_wall_ad_cropped.png&nbsp;</font><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">SOURCE: FACEBOOK: NEED TO KNOW NETWORK]</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>This opacity, however, is a problem. Take this Facebook advert ran by NTK Network in April 2019. Its main message chimes perfectly with the Fisher Sand & Gravel messaging that its proposed wall design is quicker and cheaper than its rival</b>s.&nbsp; However, we don’t know whether it was run by NTK Network on behalf of a commercial client, or had nothing to do with Fisher and simply tapped into current conservative media priorities in order to drive traffic into its own website.&nbsp; The distinction is important if we’re to untangle the role of money in shaping the public sphere.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The activities of Definers and associated entities illustrate a wider challenge. The current blend of money, politics, ideology, the fragmentation of public discourse by social media, and the deliberate shaping of national debates through alleged fakes or shills is toxic to democracy. We do not pretend to know all of the answers, but a first step is greater transparency over who is paying who to publish what.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Disclosure:</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Definers Public Affairs also faced criticism over an attempt to discredit campaigners asking for Facebook reforms by linking these campaigners to George Soros.&nbsp;</b>A Definers consultant said that “Definers shared a narrow document about an anti-Facebook group's funding. It was entirely factual...” and clarified the nature of the work carried out for Facebook. Global Witness is an independent, non-partisan organization that works to expose corruption to protect human rights and the environment. No donor —large or small— has editorial control over our work or the choices we make regarding the subjects of our investigations or campaigns.&nbsp;<b>George Soros does not fund Global Witness directly. Global Witness receives funding from the Open Society Foundation for our general funds.&nbsp;</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Author&nbsp;</font><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Nick Donovan&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Campaign Director</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></span></p></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/15/technology/facebook-definers-opposition-research.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/15/technology/facebook-definers-opposition-research.html</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">s<span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">AN FRANCISCO — A small firm called </span><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Definers Public Affairs brought the dark arts of Washington’s back-room politics</b></span><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><a class="css-1g7m0tk" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/technology/facebook-data-russia-election-racism.html?module=inline" title="" style="font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">to Silicon Valley</a><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">when, while working for Facebook, it began disparaging other tech companies to reporters.</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</span></font></div><div class="css-u5vfum StoryBodyCompanionColumn" style="margin: 0px auto 1rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; height: 508px; width: 1200px;"><div class="css-4w7y5l" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px calc((100% - 630px) / 2); padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 630px;"><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But a few days before Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, testified to Congress in September, Definers set its sights on a different target: the senators about to question Ms. Sandberg.</font></p><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="font-weight: inherit;">In one document circulated to reporters, Definers tallied what software the 15 members of the </span><b>Senate Intelligence Committee</b><span style="font-weight: inherit;"> used to track visitors to their Senate websites. Another document detailed how much each senator spent on Facebook ads and how much they had received in campaign donations from Facebook or other big tech companies.</span></font></p><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Known in the political business as opposition research, the documents pushed out by Definers neatly provided reporters with the ammunition they would need to suggest the senators grilling Ms. Sandberg were hypocrites for criticizing Facebook.</font></p></div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-left: auto; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; align-items: center;"><aside class="css-1m2ozyi" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; width: 210px; -webkit-box-align: center; align-items: center;" /></span></div><div class="css-u5vfum StoryBodyCompanionColumn" style="margin: 0px auto 1rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; height: 625px; width: 1200px;"><div class="css-4w7y5l" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px calc((100% - 630px) / 2); padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 630px;"><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While senators are no strangers to opposition research — they use it all the time against political rivals — they take a dimmer view when it used against them outside of election season. That is especially true when the research is being paid for and shoveled to reporters on behalf of a company that is saying it wants to work with lawmakers, not against them.</font></p><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And companies facing scrutiny in Washington usually avoid doing anything that could antagonize lawmakers.</font></p><div class="css-rpp6yo" data-testid="inline-message" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: 700; margin: 25px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 630px; text-align: center;"><div class="css-10klw3m vi_inline" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; height: 0px;"><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“At the same time that Facebook was publicly professing their desire to work with the committee to address these issues, they were paying a political opposition research firm to privately attempt to undermine that same committee’s credibility,” Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the panel, said in a statement. “It’s very concerning.”</font></p><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The documents obtained by The New York Times provide a deeper look at Definers’ tactics to discredit Facebook’s critics.&nbsp;<a class="css-1g7m0tk" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/technology/facebook-data-russia-election-racism.html?module=inline" title="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">The Times reported on Wednesday</a>&nbsp;that Definers also distributed research documents to reporters that cast the liberal donor George Soros as an unacknowledged force behind activists protesting Facebook, and helped publish articles criticizing Facebook’s rivals on what was designed to look like a typical conservative news site.</font></p></div><aside class="css-1m2ozyi" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; width: 210px; -webkit-box-align: center; align-items: center;"><div class="css-1n4qhbn ejk1mx12" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 210px; max-width: 210px;"><div id="pp_edpick-wrapper" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" /></div></aside></div><div data-testid="photoviewer-wrapper" class="css-79elbk ehw59r11" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative;"><div class="css-z3e15g" data-testid="photoviewer-wrapper-hidden" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: fixed; opacity: 0; top: 0px; left: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; transition: opacity 0.2s ease 0s; pointer-events: none;"><div data-testid="photoviewer-children" class="css-1hb8a7w ehw59r18" height="679.90625px" width="720px" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 432px; height: 679.906px; width: 720px; pointer-events: none;"><div data-testid="photoviewer-overlay" class="css-1c1icqh ehw59r19" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: absolute; overflow: visible; z-index: 1; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; left: 0px; right: 0px; transition: top 0.2s ease 0s, right 0.2s ease 0s, bottom 0.2s ease 0s, left 0.2s ease 0s; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div width="200px" height="758px" data-testid="photoviewer-captionblock" class="css-8ygh2q ehw59r17" style="margin: 0px; padding: 15px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: absolute; display: flex; flex-direction: column; -webkit-box-pack: center; justify-content: center; z-index: 1; top: 0px; left: 1193.05px; width: 200px; height: 758px; opacity: 0;"><span class="css-8i9d0s e1olku6u0" style="margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.25rem; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Definers Public Affairs, a public-relations firm hired by Facebook, distributed this memo about how senators tracked visitors to their websites ahead of a congressional hearing with Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer.</font></span></div><div width="720px" height="679.90625px" class="css-14490jw ehw59r110" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; z-index: 1; width: 720px; height: 679.906px; transition: width 0.2s ease 0s, height 0.2s ease 0s, margin 0.2s ease 0s;"><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; 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vertical-align: middle; padding: 0px; border-width: initial; border-style: none; border-color: initial; cursor: pointer; z-index: 901; position: fixed; top: 10px; right: 10px; height: 60px; width: 60px; opacity: 0; pointer-events: none;"><div class="css-1tr2b5x ehw59r13" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; width: 60px; height: 60px; z-index: 1; opacity: 0.9;"><svg width="60" height="60" viewbox="0 0 60 60" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" /><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><circle cx="30" cy="30" r="30" fill="white" fill-opacity="0.9" /></font></div><div class="css-xsanjy ehw59r14" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; 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padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 0.3s ease 0.2s;"><figure class="css-1lghxe1 e1a8i6eb0" aria-label="media" role="group" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemid="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/11/16/business/16definers-doc1/merlin_145886304_e7005165-9e53-4fea-aa95-7cff6ee8b4cb-articleLarge.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" style="margin: 2.6875rem auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto; max-width: 720px;"><div class="css-1xdhyk6 e1vv25i80" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="css-1ly73wi e1afaoz0" style="margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Image</font></span><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><img alt="" class="css-1m50asq" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/11/16/business/16definers-doc1/merlin_145886304_e7005165-9e53-4fea-aa95-7cff6ee8b4cb-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale" srcset="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/11/16/business/16definers-doc1/merlin_145886304_e7005165-9e53-4fea-aa95-7cff6ee8b4cb-articleLarge.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp 600w,https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/11/16/business/16definers-doc1/merlin_145886304_e7005165-9e53-4fea-aa95-7cff6ee8b4cb-jumbo.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp 1024w,https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/11/16/business/16definers-doc1/merlin_145886304_e7005165-9e53-4fea-aa95-7cff6ee8b4cb-superJumbo.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp 2048w" sizes="((min-width: 600px) and (max-width: 1004px)) 84vw, (min-width: 1005px) 60vw, 100vw" itemprop="url" itemid="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/11/16/business/16definers-doc1/merlin_145886304_e7005165-9e53-4fea-aa95-7cff6ee8b4cb-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: top; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 720px; cursor: pointer;" /></font></div><figcaption itemprop="caption description" class="css-1l44abu e3zkro30" style="margin: 10px 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="css-8i9d0s e1olku6u0" style="margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.25rem; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Definers Public Affairs, a public-relations firm hired by Facebook, distributed this memo about how senators tracked visitors to their websites ahead of a congressional hearing with Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer.</font></span></figcaption></figure></div></div><div class="css-u5vfum StoryBodyCompanionColumn" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; height: 188px; width: 1200px;"><div class="css-4w7y5l" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px calc((100% - 630px) / 2); padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 630px;"><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Late Wednesday, after The Times published its findings, Facebook&nbsp;<a class="css-1g7m0tk" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/15/technology/facebook-definers-soros.html?module=inline" title="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">cut ties with the firm</a>.</font></p><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I understand that a lot of D.C.-type firms might do this kind of work. When I learned about it I decided that we don’t want to be doing it,” Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, said on Thursday during a call with reporters.</font></p><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p></div><aside class="css-1m2ozyi" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; width: 210px; -webkit-box-align: center; align-items: center;" /></div><div class="css-u5vfum StoryBodyCompanionColumn" style="margin: 0px auto 1rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; height: 620px; width: 1200px;"><div class="css-4w7y5l" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px calc((100% - 630px) / 2); padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 630px;"><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b>Colin Reed, managing director of Definers,</b><span style="font-weight: inherit;"> said in an email that his firm simply compiled public information and what Definers did was “standard operating procedure” for public affairs outfits. “It shouldn’t be surprising to reporters at The New York Times that a P.R. firm would be providing context for reporters ahead of a client’s testimony on Capitol Hill,” he wrote.</span></font></p><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Facebook initially hired Definers to monitor news about the social network. It expanded its relationship with the firm in October 2017 when scrutiny of Facebook was increasing over how Russian agents had used the site to sow discord before the 2016 United States election.</font></p><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Definers began doing some general communications work, such as running conference calls for Facebook. It also undertook more covert efforts to spread the blame for the rise of the Russian disinformation, pointing fingers at other companies like Google.</font></p><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="font-weight: inherit;">A </span><b>key part of Definers’ strategy was NTK Network, a website that appeared to be a run-of-the-mill news aggregator with a right-wing slant. In fact, many of NTK Network’s stories were written by employees at Definers and America Rising, a sister firm, to criticize rivals of their clients, according to one former employee not allowed to speak about it publicly. The three outfits share some staff and offices in Arlington, Va.</b></font></p></div><aside class="css-1m2ozyi" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; width: 210px; -webkit-box-align: center; align-items: center;"><div class="css-we5v5d ehpkjz40" style="margin: 25px auto 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: calc((12 * (((100vw - 370px) - 15px) / 12)) + 330px); max-width: 1200px;"><div id="newsletter-module" class="css-rzld5f ehpkjz41" style="margin: 0px auto 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: hidden; width: 210px;"><div class="css-tmqdvj ehpkjz42" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="css-tjpxhb" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; width: 210px;"><div name="regilite" class="css-11tp9ka" method="post" autocomplete="off" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; height: auto; width: 210px;"><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" /></div></div></div></div></div></aside></div><div data-testid="photoviewer-wrapper" class="css-79elbk ehw59r11" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative;"><div class="css-z3e15g" data-testid="photoviewer-wrapper-hidden" style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: fixed; opacity: 0; top: 0px; left: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; transition: opacity 0.2s ease 0s; pointer-events: none;"><div data-testid="photoviewer-children" class="css-fg26vw ehw59r18" height="816.078125px" width="630px" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 477px; height: 816.078px; width: 630px; pointer-events: none;"><div data-testid="photoviewer-overlay" class="css-1c1icqh ehw59r19" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: absolute; overflow: visible; z-index: 1; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; left: 0px; right: 0px; transition: top 0.2s ease 0s, right 0.2s ease 0s, bottom 0.2s ease 0s, left 0.2s ease 0s; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div width="200px" height="758px" data-testid="photoviewer-captionblock" class="css-ngn9gy ehw59r17" style="margin: 0px; padding: 15px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: absolute; display: flex; flex-direction: column; -webkit-box-pack: center; justify-content: center; z-index: 1; top: 0px; left: 1084.08px; width: 200px; height: 758px; opacity: 0;"><span class="css-8i9d0s e1olku6u0" style="margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.25rem; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Definers Public Affairs, a public-relations firm hired by Facebook, distributed to reporters information about how much each senator spent on Facebook ads and how much each had received in campaign donations from Facebook or other big tech firms.</font></span></div><div width="630px" height="816.078125px" class="css-16e2if8 ehw59r110" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; z-index: 1; width: 630px; height: 816.078px; transition: width 0.2s ease 0s, height 0.2s ease 0s, margin 0.2s ease 0s;"><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; visibility: hidden; transition: visibility 0s ease 0.5s;"><div class="css-8h527k" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 245); animation: animation-1m9j9gf 300ms ease-in 0s 1 normal forwards running;"><div data-testid="lazyimage-container" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; 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padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 0.3s ease 0.2s;"><figure class="css-snwg1e e1a8i6eb0" aria-label="media" role="group" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemid="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/11/16/business/16definers-doc2/merlin_145886301_a031245d-18e5-4fe4-a891-53ca90b0e0ff-articleLarge.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" style="margin: 2.6875rem auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 720px;"><div class="css-1xdhyk6 e1vv25i80" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="css-1ly73wi e1afaoz0" style="margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Image</font></span><div class="css-8h527k" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 245); animation: animation-1m9j9gf 300ms ease-in 0s 1 normal forwards running;"><div data-testid="lazyimage-container" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; height: auto; cursor: pointer;"><img alt="" class="css-1h6w7uo e1t57l6r0" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/11/16/business/16definers-doc2/merlin_145886301_a031245d-18e5-4fe4-a891-53ca90b0e0ff-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale" srcset="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/11/16/business/16definers-doc2/merlin_145886301_a031245d-18e5-4fe4-a891-53ca90b0e0ff-articleLarge.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp 600w,https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/11/16/business/16definers-doc2/merlin_145886301_a031245d-18e5-4fe4-a891-53ca90b0e0ff-jumbo.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp 791w,https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/11/16/business/16definers-doc2/merlin_145886301_a031245d-18e5-4fe4-a891-53ca90b0e0ff-superJumbo.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp 1581w" sizes="((min-width: 600px) and (max-width: 1004px)) 84vw, (min-width: 1005px) 60vw, 100vw" itemprop="url" itemid="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/11/16/business/16definers-doc2/merlin_145886301_a031245d-18e5-4fe4-a891-53ca90b0e0ff-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: top; height: auto; max-width: 100%; transition: opacity 300ms ease-in-out 0s; opacity: 1; display: block; width: 630px;" /></div></div></div><figcaption itemprop="caption description" class="css-1l44abu e3zkro30" style="margin: 10px 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="css-8i9d0s e1olku6u0" style="margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.25rem; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Definers Public Affairs, a public-relations firm hired by Facebook, distributed to reporters information about how much each senator spent on Facebook ads and how much each had received in campaign donations from Facebook or other big tech firms.</font></span></figcaption></figure></div></div><div class="css-u5vfum StoryBodyCompanionColumn" style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px auto 1rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; height: 168px; width: 1200px;"><div class="css-4w7y5l" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px calc((100% - 630px) / 2); padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 630px;"><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Before Ms. Sandberg’s Senate testimony, Facebook lobbyists pushed lawmakers to refrain from questioning her about privacy, censorship and other issues, and to stick to election interference. The committee’s chairman, Senator Richard Burr, Republican of North Carolina, was swayed and warned members to stick to the hearing’s planned topic, The Times reported Wednesday.</font></p></div><aside class="css-1m2ozyi" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; width: 210px; -webkit-box-align: center; align-items: center;" /></div><div class="css-u5vfum StoryBodyCompanionColumn" style="margin: 0px auto 1rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; height: 960px; width: 1200px;"><div class="css-4w7y5l" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px calc((100% - 630px) / 2); padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 630px;"><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Fa</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">cebook had also lobbied for the hearing to include a Google emissary of similar rank to Ms. Sandberg. Mr. Burr invited Larry Page, a Google co-founder, but he did not show up. Instead, Ms. Sandberg sat alongside an empty chair behind a placard for Google.</span></font></p><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In an email days before the hearing, a Definers employee pressed a Times reporter to write that Facebook was taking the senators’ concerns seriously while Google was irresponsible for skipping the hearing.</font></p><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Th</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">e day before the hearing,&nbsp;<a class="css-1g7m0tk" href="https://ntknetwork.com/rubio-warns-google-about-becoming-a-monopoly-after-ceo-ducks-hearing/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">NTK Network reported</a>&nbsp;that Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, had suggested that Google was possibly a monopoly. The next day, shortly after the hearing ended, NTK Network posted&nbsp;<a class="css-1g7m0tk" href="https://ntknetwork.com/rubio-blasts-google-for-not-attending-senate-hearing/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">another story</a>&nbsp;highlighting Mr. Rubio’s criticism of Google during the hearing.</span></font></p><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b>Those pieces were just two of at least 11 negative items NTK has posted about Google since late March, including&nbsp;<a class="css-1g7m0tk" href="https://ntknetwork.com/as-zuckerburg-heads-to-d-c-where-is-googles-larry-page/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">an article questioning</a>&nbsp;why Mr. Zuckerberg needed to testify to Congress at another hearing earlier in the year but a Google executive did not.</b></font></p><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Like the documents on the senators, Definers distributed other memos that sought to lay out evidence for angles that it wanted reporters to pursue. The memos were typically based on public information like press clippings and social media posts.</font></p><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Definers urged reporters to explore the financial ties between Mr. Soros and Freedom From Facebook, a coalition of groups that had criticized the company. The idea was to persuade reporters that the coalition was not a sincere movement of like-minded groups but rather an orchestrated campaign by a rich, partisan opponent.</font></p><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A two-page document that Definers distributed about Freedom From Facebook noted that “at least four of the groups in the coalition receive funding or are aligned with George Soros, who has publicly criticized Facebook.” The four groups named in the document do appear to have received funding from Mr. Soros’s Open Society Foundations.</font></p></div><span style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-left: auto; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; align-items: center;"><aside class="css-1m2ozyi" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; width: 210px; -webkit-box-align: center; align-items: center;" /></span></div><div class="css-u5vfum StoryBodyCompanionColumn" style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px auto 1rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; height: 696px; width: 1200px;"><div class="css-4w7y5l" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px calc((100% - 630px) / 2); padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 630px;"><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A second, 12-page document sought to link Freedom From Facebook to Mr. Soros and to David Brock, a Democratic operative who is widely portrayed in conservative circles as a master of political dirty tricks. While pushing the connection to Mr. Soros, the document highlighted that protesters from Freedom From Facebook held up signs with images reminiscent of old, anti-Semitic propaganda.</font></p><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Definers said in a statement that the document was “entirely factual and based on public records.”</font></p><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Eddie Vale, a Freedom From Facebook spokesman, said the coalition’s primary funder was the computer scientist David Magerman but he declined to disclose other funders. Mr. Vale said the coalition did not receive money from corporations. Open Society Foundations said it did not fund the coalition.</font></p><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Laura Silber, a spokeswoman for Open Society Foundations, said the philanthropy’s president spoke with Ms. Sandberg on Thursday and requested that Facebook commission an independent review of the company’s relationship with Definers, with results made public within three months.</font></p><p class="css-1ebnwsw e2kc3sl0" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; width: 630px; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The recent work by Definers was not the first time Facebook has tried to smear its rivals. In 2011, Facebook hired the public-relations firm Burson-Marsteller to urge reporters to investigate Google for invading people’s privacy. The move backfired when reporters&nbsp;<a class="css-1g7m0tk" href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/facebook-busted-in-clumsy-smear-attempt-on-google" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">revealed the plan</a>.</font></p></div></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/facebook-hired-republican-consultants-to-seed-stories.html">http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/facebook-hired-republican-consultants-to-seed-stories.html</a>?gtm=top>m=bottom</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p class="clay-paragraph" data-editable="text" data-uri="nymag.com/intelligencer/components/clay-paragraph/instances/cjohrelm2004kt0y6b4se22m0@published" data-word-count="73" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 20px; position: relative;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For two years now, Facebook has&nbsp;<a href="http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/10/does-even-mark-zuckerberg-know-what-facebook-is.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; box-shadow: rgb(0, 0, 0) 0px 1px 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">faced increasingly furious criticism over the frictionless spread of misinformation across its network</a>. But,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/technology/facebook-data-russia-election-racism.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; box-shadow: rgb(0, 0, 0) 0px 1px 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">according to the New York&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Times’&nbsp;</em>5,000-word, five-byline story about the company’s dysfunctional response</a>&nbsp;to its misinformation crisis, Facebook eventually learned its lesson. Having heard from scores of politicians, activists, academics, and even former employees about the dangerous effects of “fake news” influence campaigns, Facebook finally landed on a solution: Create its own.</font></p><p class="clay-paragraph" data-editable="text" data-uri="nymag.com/intelligencer/components/clay-paragraph/instances/cjohtf3nj002l2c60a7c95p9o@published" data-word-count="98" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 20px; position: relative;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As they say, if you can’t beat ‘em, hire a Republican opposition-research firm to write blog posts “play[ing] down the impact of Russians’ use of Facebook.” According to the&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Times</em>, in October 2017 Facebook hired a political consultancy called<b> Definers Public Affairs — whose Silicon Valley branch is run by Tim Miller, a former Jeb Bush staffer and&nbsp;<a href="https://crooked.com/articles/timid-trump-opposition/" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; box-shadow: rgb(0, 0, 0) 0px 1px 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">contributor at Crooked Media</a></b>&nbsp;— to apply “political campaign tactics” and “campaign-style opposition research” to Facebook’s public-relations campaign. One of these tactics? Seed the conservative blogosphere with “positive content … about your company and negative content … about your competitor”:</font></p><blockquote data-uri="nymag.com/intelligencer/components/blockquote/instances/cjohsvnbf00292c60igvgezoc@published" class="blockquote" data-editable="text" data-word-count="126" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 40px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px; position: relative;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On a conservative news site called the NTK Network, dozens of articles blasted Google and Apple for unsavory business practices. One story called Mr. Cook hypocritical for chiding Facebook over privacy, noting that Apple also collects reams of data from users. Another played down the impact of the Russians’ use of Facebook.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><br style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;" /></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The rash of news coverage was no accident: NTK is an affiliate of Definers, sharing offices and staff with the public relations firm in Arlington, Va. Many NTK Network stories are written by staff members at Definers or America Rising, the company’s political opposition-research arm, to attack their clients’ enemies. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">While the NTK Network does not have a large audience of its own, its content is frequently picked up by popular conservative outlets, including Breitbart.</span></font></p></blockquote><p class="clay-paragraph" data-editable="text" data-uri="nymag.com/intelligencer/components/clay-paragraph/instances/cjohsvvxx002f2c60iq26aa0p@published" data-word-count="67" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 20px; position: relative;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Times&nbsp;</em>also details the Definers operatives’ efforts to “cast [George] Soros as the unacknowledged force behind what appeared to be a broad anti-Facebook movement.”</b> (You’d think that, for the money Facebook was presumably paying Definers, the consultants could’ve come up with a fresher boogeyman than Soros, the billionaire liberal philanthropist and eternal object of anti-Semitic conspiracy theorizing — but hey, why not go with what works?)</font></p><p class="clay-paragraph" data-editable="text" data-uri="nymag.com/intelligencer/_components/clay-paragraph/instances/cjohvjajv003k2c60aserei5q@published" data-word-count="81" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 20px; position: relative;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It may be that other companies have the same kinds of hyperaggressive PR strategies — the kinds of hyperaggressive strategies that, if they were based in Russia, we’d call “influence operations.” But other companies aren’t asking us to trust that they have the institutional integrity necessary to ensure the integrity of elections. I&nbsp;<a href="http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/fake-news-on-facebook-in-the-2018-midterms.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; box-shadow: rgb(0, 0, 0) 0px 1px 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">don’t expect Facebook to ever be able to fix the eternal human problem of misinformation entirely</a>. But I do expect them not to be actively contributing to it.</font></p></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">NYT facebk</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...<b style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">Ms. Sandberg also reached out to Ms. Klobuchar.&nbsp;</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">She had been friendly with the senator, who is featured on the website for Lean In, Ms. Sandberg’s empowerment initiative. Ms. Sandberg had contributed a blurb to Ms. Klobuchar’s 2015 memoir, and the senator’s chief of staff had previously worked at Ms. Sandberg’s charitable foundation.</span></font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But in a tense conversation shortly after the ad legislation was introduced, Ms. Sandberg complained about Ms. Klobuchar’s attacks on the company, said a person who was briefed on the call. Ms. Klobuchar did not back down on her legislation. But she dialed down her criticism in at least one venue important to the company: After blasting Facebook repeatedly that fall on her own Facebook page, Ms. Klobuchar hardly mentioned the company in posts between November and February.</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A spokesman for Ms. Klobuchar said in a statement that Facebook’s lobbying had not lessened her commitment to holding the company accountable. “Facebook was pushing to exclude issue ads from the Honest Ads Act, and Senator Klobuchar strenuously disagreed and refused to change the bill,” he said.</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In October 2017, Facebook also expanded its work with a Washington-based consultant, Definers Public Affairs<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">,</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;that had originally been hired to monitor press coverage of the company. Founded by veterans of Republican presidential politics, Definers specialized in applying political campaign tactics to corporate public relations — an approach long employed in Washington by big telecommunications firms and activist hedge fund managers, but less common in tech.</span></font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></span></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Definers had established a Silicon Valley outpost earlier that year, led by Tim Miller,</b>&nbsp;a former spokesman for Jeb Bush who preached the virtues of campaign-style opposition research. For tech firms, he argued in one interview,<b>&nbsp;a goal should be to “have positive content pushed out about your company and negative content that’s being pushed out about your competitor.”</b></font></span></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></span></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Facebook quickly adopted that strategy. In November 2017, the social network came out in favor of a bill called the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act, which made internet companies responsible for sex trafficking ads on their sites.</font></span></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Google and others had fought the bill for months, worrying it would set a cumbersome precedent. But the sex trafficking bill was championed by Senator John Thune, a Republican of South Dakota who had pummeled Facebook over accusations that it censored conservative content, and Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat and senior commerce committee member who was a frequent critic of Facebook.</font></span></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Facebook broke ranks with other tech companies, hoping the move would help repair relations on both sides of the aisle, said two congressional staffers and three tech industry officials.</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When the bill came to a vote in the House in February, Ms. Sandberg offered public support online, urging Congress to “make sure we pass meaningful and strong legislation to stop sex trafficking.”</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Opposition Research</font></b></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In March, The Times, The Observer of London and The Guardian prepared to publish a joint investigation into how Facebook user data had been appropriated by Cambridge Analytica to profile American voters. A few days before publication, The Times presented Facebook with evidence that copies of improperly acquired Facebook data still existed, despite earlier promises by Cambridge executives and others to delete it.</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mr. Zuckerberg and Ms. Sandberg met with their lieutenants to determine a response. They decided to pre-empt the stories, saying in a statement published late on a Friday night that Facebook had suspended Cambridge Analytica from its platform. The executives figured that getting ahead of the news would soften its blow, according to people in the discussions.</font></span></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></span></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">They were wrong.&nbsp;</span>The story drew worldwide outrage, prompting lawsuits and official investigations in Washington, London and Brussels. For days, Mr. Zuckerberg and Ms. Sandberg remained out of sight, mulling how to respond. While the Russia investigation had devolved into an increasingly partisan battle, the Cambridge scandal set off Democrats and Republicans alike. And in Silicon Valley, other tech firms began exploiting the outcry to burnish their own brands.</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We’re not going to traffic in your personal life,” Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said in an MSNBC interview. “Privacy to us is a human right. It’s a civil liberty.” (Mr. Cook’s criticisms infuriated Mr. Zuckerberg, who later ordered his management team to use only Android phones — arguing that the operating system had far more users than Apple’s.)</font></span></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Facebook scrambled anew. Executives quietly shelved an internal communications campaign, called “We Get It,” meant to assure employees that the company was committed to getting back on track in 2018.</font></span></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Then Facebook went on the offensive.</b>&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Mr. Kaplan prevailed on Ms. Sandberg to promote Kevin Martin, a former Federal Communications Commission chairman and fellow Bush administration veteran, to lead the company’s American lobbying efforts. Facebook also expanded its work with Definers.</span></font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">On a conservative news site called the&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">NTK Network, dozens of articles blasted Google and Apple for unsavory business practices. One story called Mr. Cook hypocritical for chiding Facebook over privacy, noting that Apple also collects reams of data from users. Another played down the impact of the Russians’ use of Facebook.</span></font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The rash of news coverage was no accident: NTK is an affiliate of Definers,</b>&nbsp;sharing offices and staff with the public relations firm in Arlington, Va. Many NTK Network stories are written by staff members at Definers or America Rising, the company’s political opposition-research arm, to attack their clients’ enemies. While the NTK Network does not have a large audience of its own, its content is frequently picked up by popular conservative outlets, including Breitbart.</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></b></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Mr. Miller</b>&nbsp;acknowledged that Facebook and Apple do not directly compete. Definers’ work on Apple is funded by a third technology company, he said, but Facebook has pushed back against Apple because Mr. Cook’s criticism upset Facebook.</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If the privacy issue comes up, Facebook is happy to “muddy the waters,” Mr. Miller said over drinks at an Oakland, Calif., bar last month.</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Thursday, after this article was published, Facebook said that it had ended its relationship with Definers, without citing a reason.</font></b></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In public, Facebook was more conciliatory. Mr. Zuckerberg agreed to testify on Capitol Hill. The company unveiled a gauzy advertising campaign, titled “Here Together,” to apologize to its users. Days before Mr. Zuckerberg’s appearance in Congress in April, Facebook announced that it was endorsing Ms. Klobuchar’s Honest Ads bill and would pre-emptively begin disclosing political ad buyers. It also informed users whose data had been improperly harvested by Cambridge Analytica.</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But Mr. Zuckerberg’s good-will tour was bumpy. Thanks to intensive coaching and preparation, the company’s communications team believed, he had effectively parried tough questions at the April hearing. But they worried he had come off as robotic — a suspicion confirmed by Facebook’s pollsters.</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mr. Zuckerberg spoke with Representative Greg Walden during a break in an April hearing, telling him he was surprised at the tough line of questioning.</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">]</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mr. Zuckerberg’s political instincts were no more well-tuned. During a break in one hearing, he buttonholed Greg Walden, an Oregon Republican who leads the House Energy and Commerce Committee, to express his surprise at how tough on Facebook Democrats had been.</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mr. Walden was taken aback, said people who knew of the remark. Facebook’s leader, Mr. Walden realized, did not understand the breadth of the anger now aimed at his creation.</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Personal Appeals in Washington</font></b></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Some colleagues believed that Ms. Sandberg — whose ambitions to return to public life were much discussed at the company — was protecting her own brand at Facebook’s expense. At one company gathering, said two people who knew of the event, friends told Ms. Sandberg that if Facebook did not address the scandals effectively, its role in spreading hate and fear would define her legacy, too.</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>So Ms. Sandberg began taking a more personal role in the company’s Washington campaign,</b>&nbsp;drawing on all the polish that Mr. Zuckerberg sometimes lacked. She not only relied on her old Democratic ties, but also sought to assuage skeptical Republicans, who grumbled that Facebook was more sensitive to the political opinions of its work force than to those of powerful committee leaders. Trailing an entourage of as many as 10 people on trips to the capital, Ms. Sandberg made a point of sending personal thank-you notes to lawmakers and others she met.</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Her top Republican target was Mr. Burr,</b>&nbsp;whose Senate committee’s Russia investigation had chugged along. The two spoke by phone, according to a congressional staff member and a Facebook executive, and met in person this fall. While critics cast Facebook as a serial offender that had ignored repeated warning signs about the dangers posed by its product, Ms. Sandberg argued that the company was grappling earnestly with the consequences of its extraordinary growth.</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">She made the same case in June at a conference of the National Association of Attorneys General in Portland, Ore. At the time, several attorneys general had opened or joined investigations into the company. Facebook was eager to head off further trouble.</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The company organized several private receptions, including what was billed as a conversation with Ms. Sandberg about “corporate citizenship in the digital age” and a briefing on Cambridge Analytica.</font></span></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While Facebook had publicly declared itself ready for new federal regulations, Ms. Sandberg privately contended that the social network was already adopting the best reforms and policies available. Heavy-handed regulation, she warned, would only disadvantage smaller competitors.</font></b></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Some of the officials were skeptical. But Ms. Sandberg’s presence — companies typically send lower-ranking executives to such gatherings — persuaded others that Facebook was serious about addressing its problems, according to two who attended the conference.</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Facebook also continued to look for ways to deflect criticism to rivals. In June, after The Times reported on Facebook’s previously undisclosed deals to share user data with device makers — partnerships Facebook had failed to disclose to lawmakers — executives ordered up focus groups in Washington.</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In separate sessions with liberals and conservatives, about a dozen at a time, Facebook previewed messages to lawmakers. Among the approaches it tested was bringing YouTube and other social media platforms into the controversy, while arguing that Google struck similar data-sharing deals.</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Deflecting Criticism</font></b></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></b></div><div style="font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">===</font></div></div></div></div></div>