Facebook admits to smear campaign against Soros

Facebook communications head Sheryl Sandberg admitted on Wednesday the company hired Definers Public Affairs to create a campaign against George Soros and undermine critics.

Allegations of the smear campaign surfaced following a report from Open Society Foundations which revealed that Facebook had attempted to discredit some of its critics and George Soros.

TechCrunch reported on Wednesday that Elliot Schrage, Facebook’s outgoing head of communications and policy, took the blame for hiring the firm. Both Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg had disavowed knowledge of the firm’s hiring in comments to the press.

The Schrage memo does not include any apology for Definer’s or Facebook’s work around the philanthropist: “Some of this work is being characterized as opposition research, but I believe it would be irresponsible and unprofessional for us not to understand the backgrounds and potential conflicts of interest of our critics”, said the memo.

Soros is known for funding liberal and pro-democratic causes, making him a regular target of the right.