{"id":18181,"date":"2022-03-31T22:29:05","date_gmt":"2022-03-31T22:29:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/31\/facebook-in-bare-knuckle-fight-with-tiktok\/"},"modified":"2022-03-31T22:29:05","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T22:29:05","slug":"facebook-in-bare-knuckle-fight-with-tiktok","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/31\/facebook-in-bare-knuckle-fight-with-tiktok\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook in ‘bare-knuckle’ fight with TikTok"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The executive director of a political consulting firm has responded to a report alleging that Meta paid his company to “undermine” TikTok.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Internal emails, apparently viewed by The Washington Post, allegedly suggested that Targeted Victory’s campaign aimed to portray TikTok “as a danger to American children.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Zac Moffatt tweeted that the Post’s report mischaracterized her work and “key points are just plain wrong.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The BBC reached out to Meta for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A spokesman said: “We believe all platforms, including TikTok, should face a scrutiny commensurate with their growing success.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The “bare knuckle” campaign allegedly involved the placement of opinion pieces and letters to the editor in US regional news outlets “that promoted dubious stories about alleged TikTok trends that actually originated with Facebook,” the Post journalists wrote.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

None of the opinion articles or letters to the editor revealed that a Meta-funded group pushed them forward, the newspaper added. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

In response to the article, Mr Moffat tweeted: “The story suggests that the words in the letters to the editor were not the authors’ own, nor were they aware of Meta’s involvement. That’s wrong. You will confirm that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

In internal emails, the newspaper said, Targeted Victory urged its partners to bring stories to local media that linked TikTok to dangerous trends. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“The dream would be to have stories with headlines like ‘From Dance to Danger: How TikTok Has Become the Most Harmful Social Media Space for Kids,'” a Targeted Victory employee reportedly wrote in an email apparently released by the post was seen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The newspaper claimed that Targeted Victory encouraged employees to amplify reports of dangerous trends related to TikTok.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

These included an alleged Devious Licks challenge that resulted in damage to school property, and reports of an alleged Slap a Teacher challenge that, according to an investigation by news site Insider, actually did not exist.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

But journalistic research, according to the Post, suggested stories about both challenges were beginning to spread on Facebook. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Following the release, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers \u2014 a major US teachers’ union \u2014 accused Facebook of fanning the Devious Licks flames, thereby “terrifying teachers, students and parents across America.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

These fears were echoed by TikTok itself. In response to the article, the company told the BBC: “We are deeply concerned that fueling local media reports of alleged trends not found on the platform could cause harm in the real world.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

In response to the article, technology journalist Casey Newton wrote in his Platformer newsletter that the impact goes beyond inconvenience but risks inspiring people to take on the alleged challenges. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Even the fact that Meta might have helped inspire such imitators should have been enough to finish this project while it was still whiteboarded,” he wrote.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mr Moffatt tweeted that The Post itself reported on the alleged TikTok challenges. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Targeted Victory describes itself as “right of centre” but Mr Moffatt said it has managed “bipartisan teams”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

In 2016, Mr. Moffatt met with Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive officer, as part of a group of high-profile conservative figures after allegations — which the firm denied — that they had rigged their Trending Topics function to include “progressive \u201c to promote views.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Now it’s Mr. Moffatt’s work with Meta that is under scrutiny. However, this latest incident is not the first time the strategies employed by firms hired by the social media giant have been criticized.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

In 2018, The New York Times revealed tactics employed by a Facebook-hired PR firm, Definers. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The newspaper said the company had circulated a document falsely claiming that the anti-Facebook campaign group Freedom From Facebook was backed by financier George Soros. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mr. Zuckerberg said he was unaware of Definers’ actions and said the company would no longer be working with the firm. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The executive director of a political consulting firm has responded to a report alleging that Meta paid his company to “undermine” TikTok. Internal emails, apparently viewed by The Washington Post, allegedly suggested that Targeted Victory’s campaign aimed to portray TikTok “as a danger to American children.” Zac Moffatt tweeted that the Post’s report mischaracterized her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\nFacebook in 'bare-knuckle' fight with TikTok - Tahrir News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/31\/facebook-in-bare-knuckle-fight-with-tiktok\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Facebook in 'bare-knuckle' fight with TikTok\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The executive director of a political consulting firm has responded to a report alleging that Meta paid his company to “undermine” TikTok. Internal emails, apparently viewed by The Washington Post, allegedly suggested that Targeted Victory’s campaign aimed to portray TikTok “as a danger to American children.” Zac Moffatt tweeted that the Post’s report mischaracterized her […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/31\/facebook-in-bare-knuckle-fight-with-tiktok\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tahrir News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-03-31T22:29:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Tahrir News\",\"description\":\"News all over the world\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/31\/facebook-in-bare-knuckle-fight-with-tiktok\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/31\/facebook-in-bare-knuckle-fight-with-tiktok\/\",\"name\":\"Facebook in 'bare-knuckle' fight with TikTok - Tahrir News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-31T22:29:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-31T22:29:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5eb9492fbc67154812b39589e826b6e4\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/31\/facebook-in-bare-knuckle-fight-with-tiktok\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/31\/facebook-in-bare-knuckle-fight-with-tiktok\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/31\/facebook-in-bare-knuckle-fight-with-tiktok\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Business\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/category\/business\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Facebook in ‘bare-knuckle’ fight with TikTok\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5eb9492fbc67154812b39589e826b6e4\",\"name\":\"megahed\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ee3294b28670178246ce92a6679bf959bc435d2fcd9cb9ab078702487c106df?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ee3294b28670178246ce92a6679bf959bc435d2fcd9cb9ab078702487c106df?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"megahed\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Facebook in 'bare-knuckle' fight with TikTok - Tahrir News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/31\/facebook-in-bare-knuckle-fight-with-tiktok\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Facebook in 'bare-knuckle' fight with TikTok","og_description":"The executive director of a political consulting firm has responded to a report alleging that Meta paid his company to “undermine” TikTok. Internal emails, apparently viewed by The Washington Post, allegedly suggested that Targeted Victory’s campaign aimed to portray TikTok “as a danger to American children.” Zac Moffatt tweeted that the Post’s report mischaracterized her […]","og_url":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/31\/facebook-in-bare-knuckle-fight-with-tiktok\/","og_site_name":"Tahrir News","article_published_time":"2022-03-31T22:29:05+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/","name":"Tahrir News","description":"News all over the world","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/31\/facebook-in-bare-knuckle-fight-with-tiktok\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/31\/facebook-in-bare-knuckle-fight-with-tiktok\/","name":"Facebook in 'bare-knuckle' fight with TikTok - Tahrir News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-03-31T22:29:05+00:00","dateModified":"2022-03-31T22:29:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5eb9492fbc67154812b39589e826b6e4"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/31\/facebook-in-bare-knuckle-fight-with-tiktok\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/31\/facebook-in-bare-knuckle-fight-with-tiktok\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/31\/facebook-in-bare-knuckle-fight-with-tiktok\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Business","item":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/category\/business\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Facebook in ‘bare-knuckle’ fight with TikTok"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5eb9492fbc67154812b39589e826b6e4","name":"megahed","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ee3294b28670178246ce92a6679bf959bc435d2fcd9cb9ab078702487c106df?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ee3294b28670178246ce92a6679bf959bc435d2fcd9cb9ab078702487c106df?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"megahed"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18181\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}