HIGHLIGHTS
- Meta confirmed the hiring of Targeted Victory.
- The company exploited "real concerns and baseless fears" about TikTok.
- "We feel that all platforms should be subjected to some sort of monitoring."
Eleven years ago, Facebook was caught red-handed when it engaged a famous public relations company to try to plant stories in major news publications harshly condemning Google's privacy practises.
It engaged the public relations firm Definers in 2018 to do opposition research on the company's opponents, including billionaire benefactor George Soros. Elliot Schrage, Facebook's longstanding head of communications, accepted responsibility for allowing the employment of Definers and related organisations and resigned.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Meta, Facebook's parent company, is employing similar techniques to take after another rival, TikTok. According to the Post, Meta engaged Targeted Victory, a Republican consulting firm, to "orchestrate a countrywide campaign" against TikTok.
According to the Post, Targeted Victory engaged with dozens of public relations companies around the US to help "sway public opinion against TikTok" by planting local news articles and assisting in the placement of op-eds criticising TikTok across the country. Targeted Victory has confirmed that it has been hired by Meta.
"We think that all platforms, including TikTok, should endure scrutiny commensurate with their rising success," said spokesperson Andy Stone in a statement.
Targeted Victory's CEO, Zac Moffatt, stated that the organisation "manages nonpartisan teams on behalf of our customers."
"It is common knowledge that we have worked with Meta for several years, and we are happy of the job we have completed," he said in a statement.
Internal emails published by The Washington Post from Targeted Victory detailed a plan to weaken TikTok, which is controlled by the Chinese business ByteDance. In order to sway public and political opinion against TikTok, the corporation employed a combination of "real worries and spurious anxiety."
Targeted Victory was also aiming to acquire "proactive publicity" of Facebook in local media, including "submitting letters and opinion articles speaking glowingly of Facebook's role in, for example, assisting Black-owned companies."
"We are genuinely concerned that the fanning of local media stories on supposed trends that have not been discovered on the platform may create real-world harm," TikTok said in an emailed statement.
