George Soros' Open Society Foundations slams Facebook, calling it ‘active in promoting’ hate and misinformation

Billionaire George Soros’ philanthropic network ripped into Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg after the New York Times reported that the social media company pushed to involve the financier’s name to discredit its critics. Patrick Gaspard, president of Soros’ Open Society Foundations, said he was “shocked to learn” from the article that Facebook had hired a company that allegedly tried to undermine criticism of Facebook’s handling of hate speech and Russian propaganda on its platform by tying it to the 88-year-old philanthropist.  “It’s been disappointing to see how you have failed to monitor hate and misinformation on Facebook’s platform,” Gaspard wrote in an open letter to Sandberg, asking her for a meeting to discuss the issue. “To now learn that you are active in promoting these distortions is beyond the pale.”

“These efforts appear to have been part of a deliberate strategy to distract from the very real accountability problems your company continues to grapple with,” Gaspard’s letter said of Facebook’s campaign. “This is not about George Soros or the foundations. Your methods threaten the very values underpinning our democracy.”