Mark Zuckerberg on NYT story: "To suggest we weren't interested in knowing the truth or wanted to hide what we knew or wanted to prevent investigations is simply untrue."

Facebook says it will take a couple of questions on the article but wants to focus on (looks at notes) its transparency report.
Good luck with that folks.
Now Mark Zuckerberg is running through all the tactics it's deploying to clean up the platform (you know like they should have years ago).
What every Facebook user should be reading in the meantime
https://t.co/ohyhUSyxTL
Mark Zuckerberg is vaguely denying allegations in the story and moves quickly to stressing solutions so people will stop talking about the problems. This is the Facebook playbook. Is the company misreading the room this time?
Facebook board statement on Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg: "To suggest that they knew about Russian interference and either tried to ignore it or prevent investigations into what had happened is grossly unfair."
This announcement that Facebook executives are discussing was planned for a long time. But the timing, coming a day after the NYT bombshell, is not coincidental.
https://t.co/dGsHGR99oB
https://t.co/aTsrWblscg
This is the note from Mark Zuckerberg: A Blueprint for Content Governance and Enforcement https://t.co/EtZu9sAHTT
ABC News: Mark, is anyone going to lose their job over this? If not, please explain.
Zuckerberg: Blah blah. I generally don't talk about specific cases of that in public. Blah blah.
Mark Zuckerberg: I have tremendous respect for George Soros even though we disagree. As soon as I learned about this in the NYT, I talked to our team and we are no longer working with this firm.
Wired: Why did you think opposition research was a winning strategy?
Zuckerberg: I learned about this yesterday. In general, I think you're right. This might be normal in Washington but it's not the kind of thing we want Facebook associated with.
Cheap seats: How does the CEO not know this? And why isn't the executive who clearly did know on this call?
Recode: Did you consider taking Facebook offline in Myanmar to prevent violence?
Facebook: ... We are bringing the world closer together.
Mark Zuckerberg: We have considered taking the service down when we were worried about a privacy or security issue. But he does not address Myanmar.
WSJ: Have you fired anyone?
Zuckerberg: We have made personnel changes. Hey, we just hired a new global policy and comms chief. Let's focus on that.
Lots of long pauses as executives confer on how to respond to media questions.
Asked whether he would step down as board chairman, Mark Zuckerberg says no.
"I am quite focused on finding ways to get more independence into our systems in other ways."
Bloomberg: After revelations in NYT article, how are things going to change in Facebook's relationships with critics, lawmakers and media?
Zuckerberg: Transparency is one of the bigger areas where we have to continue to do more.
The buck stops with Mark Zuckerberg, true. But no excuse for Sheryl Sandberg not being on this call if Facebook has found this new religion called transparency.
Also, if you are CEO of a major company and you learn really bad stuff about your company by reading it in the newspaper, you have a serious problem.
So, who did know on your team about Definers?
Zuckerberg: "I think someone on our comms team must have hired them."
Comms team, meet the bus that just ran you over.
Pressed again on who's responsible and who will get fired, Zuckerberg gets his back up: I feel like I have answered this question a bunch of times. I am not going to get into personnel decisions on this call.
Mark Zuckerberg just extended the call to answer more questions from the media.
https://t.co/Vp6KKvHGJ5
We are now one hour into this press call.
Finally someone asks directly about Sheryl Sandberg.
Zuckerberg: Sheryl learned about this at the same time that I did. Overall Sheryl is doing great work for the company. She has been a very important partner to me and will continue to be.
Facebook board: Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg are doing great.
Mark Zuckerberg: I have no idea what's happening inside my own company and neither does Sheryl.
Why do you believe you are the right person to lead Facebook?
Zuckerberg: We are doing the right things to fix the issues. I am fully committed to getting this right.
Asked about the review of lobbyists and whether Sheryl Sandberg will oversee it in light of the allegations in the NYT article, Mark Zuckerberg says new global policy and comms chief Nick Clegg will oversee the review and he reports to Sandberg.
Zuckerberg says the reality is he is not going to know every single thing going on. He also says he has confidence in his team who does know these things. 🤷‍♀️
Facebook has now ended the press call.
Thanks for spending the last hour and 22 minutes with me.
--30--

More from Tech

Recently, the @CNIL issued a decision regarding the GDPR compliance of an unknown French adtech company named "Vectaury". It may seem like small fry, but the decision has potential wide-ranging impacts for Google, the IAB framework, and today's adtech. It's thread time! 👇

It's all in French, but if you're up for it you can read:
• Their blog post (lacks the most interesting details):
https://t.co/PHkDcOT1hy
• Their high-level legal decision: https://t.co/hwpiEvjodt
• The full notification: https://t.co/QQB7rfynha

I've read it so you needn't!

Vectaury was collecting geolocation data in order to create profiles (eg. people who often go to this or that type of shop) so as to power ad targeting. They operate through embedded SDKs and ad bidding, making them invisible to users.

The @CNIL notes that profiling based off of geolocation presents particular risks since it reveals people's movements and habits. As risky, the processing requires consent — this will be the heart of their assessment.

Interesting point: they justify the decision in part because of how many people COULD be targeted in this way (rather than how many have — though they note that too). Because it's on a phone, and many have phones, it is considered large-scale processing no matter what.
The 12 most important pieces of information and concepts I wish I knew about equity, as a software engineer.

A thread.

1. Equity is something Big Tech and high-growth companies award to software engineers at all levels. The more senior you are, the bigger the ratio can be:


2. Vesting, cliffs, refreshers, and sign-on clawbacks.

If you get awarded equity, you'll want to understand vesting and cliffs. A 1-year cliff is pretty common in most places that award equity.

Read more in this blog post I wrote:
https://t.co/WxQ9pQh2mY


3. Stock options / ESOPs.

The most common form of equity compensation at early-stage startups that are high-growth.

And there are *so* many pitfalls you'll want to be aware of. You need to do your research on this: I can't do justice in a tweet.

https://t.co/cudLn3ngqi


4. RSUs (Restricted Stock Units)

A common form of equity compensation for publicly traded companies and Big Tech. One of the easier types of equity to understand: https://t.co/a5xU1H9IHP

5. Double-trigger RSUs. Typically RSUs for pre-IPO companies. I got these at Uber.


6. ESPP: a (typically) amazing employee perk at publicly traded companies. There's always risk, but this plan can typically offer good upsides.

7. Phantom shares. An interesting setup similar to RSUs... but you don't own stocks. Not frequent, but e.g. Adyen goes with this plan.

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First thread of the year because I have time during MCO. As requested, a thread on the gods and spirits of Malay folk religion. Some are indigenous, some are of Indian origin, some have Islamic


Before I begin, it might be worth explaining the Malay conception of the spirit world. At its deepest level, Malay religious belief is animist. All living beings and even certain objects are said to have a soul. Natural phenomena are either controlled by or personified as spirits

Although these beings had to be respected, not all of them were powerful enough to be considered gods. Offerings would be made to the spirits that had greater influence on human life. Spells and incantations would invoke their


Two known examples of such elemental spirits that had god-like status are Raja Angin (king of the wind) and Mambang Tali Arus (spirit of river currents). There were undoubtedly many more which have been lost to time

Contact with ancient India brought the influence of Hinduism and Buddhism to SEA. What we now call Hinduism similarly developed in India out of native animism and the more formal Vedic tradition. This can be seen in the multitude of sacred animals and location-specific Hindu gods