Mark Zuckerberg's Meta paid a high Republican consulting agency to push unfavorable tales about TikTok.
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Meta has employed a high GOP consulting agency to gin up rage towards TikTok and deflect political scrutiny away from Fb and Instagram, in keeping with a report on Wednesday.
The consulting agency, Focused Victory, pushed to “get the message out that whereas Meta is the present punching bag, TikTok is the true risk particularly as a overseas owned app that's #1 in sharing information that younger teenagers are utilizing,” in keeping with an inner electronic mail from February reported by the Washington Publish.
Focused Victory reportedly superior Meta’s agenda by pushing information tales blaming harmful on-line developments equivalent to the “slap a trainer problem” on TikTok — though the development really originated on Fb.
The group additionally helped place op-eds and letters to the editor in native papers just like the Denver Publish and Des Moines Register, elevating considerations about China “intentionally amassing behavioral information on our youngsters,” in keeping with the report.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has blamed TikTok for Fb’s slowing consumer development, which has contributed to its inventory tanking 32.5% thus far this 12 months.
“Folks have loads of decisions for a way they wish to spend their time, and apps like TikTok are rising in a short time,” Zuckerberg mentioned throughout an earnings name in February.
Focused Victory’s mandate from Meta seemed to be twofold: cease TikTok from drawing customers from Instagram and Fb whereas additionally sapping assist for antitrust lawsuits and payments concentrating on Meta.
“Bonus level if we will match this right into a broader message that the present payments/proposals aren’t the place [state attorneys general] or members of Congress ought to be centered,” one Focused Victory staffer wrote in an electronic mail obtained by the newspaper.
Focused Victory’s CEO Zac Moffatt, who beforehand labored digital director of Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential marketing campaign, advised The New York Publish he's “engaged on a listing of factors the place the [Washington Post’s] reporting was inaccurate or simply completely improper.”
“Focused Victory’s company observe manages bipartisan groups on behalf of our purchasers,” Moffatt added. “It's public data we have now labored with Meta for a number of years and we're pleased with the work we have now performed.”
A TikTok spokesperson mentioned that the corporate is “deeply involved that the stoking of native media studies on alleged developments that haven't been discovered on the platform might trigger actual world hurt.”
A Meta spokesperson mentioned, “We consider all platforms, together with TikTok, ought to face a stage of scrutiny in line with their rising success.”
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