The tech billionaire aiding the Fb whistleblower

Omidyar’s global philanthropic organization Luminate manages Haugen’s press and government relations in Europe, and his foundation last year donated $ 150,000 to Whistleblower Aid, the nonprofit that legally represents and advises Haugen.

And Haugen’s top public relations representative in the US, former Obama spokesman Bill Burton, leads public relations for the nonprofit Center for Humane Technology, an advocacy group funded by Omidyar. (The center is a customer of Burton’s company). Haugen appeared on a Center for Humane Technology podcast earlier this month.

Another prominent figure in the tech world in Haugen’s camp: Harvard constitutional law professor and former Democratic presidential candidate Larry Lessig, who told POLITICO early Thursday that he was doing “limited” pro bono legal and communications work for Haugen. Lessig said he also hired Burton’s company to “provide communications advice and support.”

“However, I am not their ‘chief attorney'”, wrote Lessig. “This work (also pro bono for Frances) was done by a very impressive team organized by Whistleblower Aid.”

Facebook declined to comment on this article. Haugen’s representatives have not yet answered questions about how much support Omidyar and its organizations have given, directly or indirectly, to their cause.

But one of Omidyar’s organizations, his advocacy and investment group Omidyar Network, responded to requests for comment by referring to a newly published blog post titled “In Support of Tech Whistleblowers Who Keep Tech On Account”.

“We are grateful to the brave people who called on Big Tech for its bad behavior,” says the unabridged article. “They are an important part of creating systemic controls and balances for big tech. They are what alert policymakers and take steps to curb their excessive power and restore trust and balance to digital markets.”

One person familiar with Luminate’s strategy said Omidyar’s network only got involved after Haugen went public in early October.

“I don’t want to give the impression that Pierre was involved for months and secretly funded this behind the scenes,” said the person who asked for anonymity to speak openly. “The fact is that he has funded a lot of big tech and democracy work – a lot of different organizations over a number of years. And when the Haugen revelations went public, we sat in and said, ‘How can we help?’ ”

The person added, “There will be financial investment from [Omidyar’s] philanthropic organizations on a forward-looking basis “to aid the discussion on the subjects that Haugen published.

None of that makes Facebook an outsider, of course: its market value of nearly $ 1 trillion makes it the sixth largest company in the world, and in Washington it employs hundreds of people and has more than a dozen lobbying firms. Its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, ranks fifth on Forbes’ list of the richest people in the world.

But Omidyar is also on this billionaire’s list (at number 83). And he has spent years investing much of his fortune in funding the fight against the big tech companies he criticizes as too powerful and destructive to democracy. These include funding groups such as the anti-monopoly think tank Open Markets Institute and the Digital Rights Group Public Knowledge.

His own network is also increasingly involved in the agitation against the big tech companies. Last year, its advocacy and investment group, Omidyar Network, distributed widely read papers outlining the antitrust proceedings against Facebook and Google. The group also hosted a series on whistleblowing in the tech industry in early February this year, months before Haugen got in touch.

Haugen, who quit her post as Facebook product manager in May, stands out from other whistleblowers in Silicon Valley with her organized PR campaign. It includes a collection of top Democrats, including Burton – whose company Bryson Gillette helps run media for Haugen – and Ben Scott, a former technical advisor to Hillary Clinton who now works at Luminate.

Haugen initially attracted public interest as an unidentified whistleblower who posted a series of internal Facebook documents last month that formed the basis of a series of investigations in the Wall Street Journal, and then her identity in a “60 Minutes” episode on Nov. October revealed the program’s largest audience since January.

Two days later, she appeared before the Senate Commerce Committee, where she was praised by lawmakers on both sides. (Massachusetts Democrat Ed Markey praised her as the “American heroine of the 21st century.

Haugen will testify to a committee of the British Parliament on Monday, and appearances in Belgium and France will follow next month.

Despite Omidyar’s support, Haugen’s attorneys at Whistleblower Aid have said they are having financial difficulties keeping up with costs. The organization set up a GoFundMe account for Haugen that has raised approximately $ 56,000 with a goal of $ 100,000.

One of Haugen’s other allies, Lessig, wrote in a medium on October 11 that he was serving her “in a limited capacity as a pro bono attorney.” He described Haugen as “a woman who risked everything to help us understand what the most powerful social media company in the world is hiding from us”.

Haugen also defended his post against criticism from journalist Glenn Greenwald – who, oddly enough, was once the editor of Omidyar-funded The Intercept news agency.

Lessig has advocated a number of concerns at the interface between technical and civil liberties, including calling for the relaxation of copyright and patent restrictions and support for net neutrality and open source software.

Comments are closed.