General

Facebook tried to plant negative stories about Google

Social networking company admits to hiring PR firm to tarnish Google’s image

Newly released emails show Facebook has been paying a top public relations firm, Burson-Marsteller, to plant negative stories in major U.S. media about Google’s privacy policies. The smear campaign was brought to light after a blogger posted an email exchange between himself and a Burson-Marsteller employee who had offered to help him to write an anti-Google op-ed. Chris Soghoian, a prominent internet security blogger challenged the company’s assertion that Social Circle, a new Google feature, was a privacy threat and accused them of “making a mountain out of a molehill.”

The Guardian

Leaked emails

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