The Breakdown - Facebook turmoil

Can Facebook be trusted? An investigation by The New York Times claims some shady moves by the digital giant.

The investigative report is based on 50 sources ranging from Facebook executives and employees to lawmakers and lobbyists. 

What does the investigation claim? That Facebook was so focused on growth that it was making unethical mistakes along the way, such as the Cambridge Analytica data issue, for example. But the report goes even further, suggesting that once caught, Facebook put forth strategic effort to not only deflect blame, but discredit critics and competitors. This centers around a public relations firm that Facebook hired which specializes in pushing positive stories about its clients and negative news about the client's rivals, much like the machinery of political campaigns.

The public relations firm is said to have gone out and told reporters that anti-Facebook groups were being funded by liberal billionaire George Soros and that the firm wrote nasty stories about companies like Apple and Google so that Facebook would not be the only digital company with drama.

What does Facebook say about the investigation? It does not deny hiring the firm or that the firm told reporters the anti-Facebook groups might be getting money from someone, but founder Mark Zuckerberg is insisting he had no clue this was going on and that he shut it down the minute he learned about it. He also says he is making sure that no similar efforts are happening in the company.

Zuckerberg claims someone beneath him must have approved the campaign.