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The Facebook Files
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Did the CIA Run Facebook? What the Record Shows

No document, court record or testimony found shows that the CIA ran Facebook or directed its content decisions. What is documented is that Meta hired former CIA, FBI and other national-security staff into trust and safety roles, and that the FBI and DHS/CISA held regular contacts with the company.

Jul 12, 2022
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Whose side it served: Neither party

The CIA-control claim is unproven; the documented FBI and DHS contacts are covered in other entries.

What the record shows

A July 12, 2022 MintPress News investigation by Alan MacLeod used LinkedIn profiles and employment databases to identify 'dozens' of former CIA staff at Meta, including Aaron Berman, a former CIA senior analytic manager who became a senior product policy manager for misinformation. The article argued this was a structural problem, but did not show CIA direction of Facebook's decisions. Elvis Chan's 2022 deposition and the Missouri v. Biden rulings document FBI and CISA meetings with Facebook and FBI flagging of posts, not CIA involvement. The Intercept reported in October 2022 on a Facebook portal that let government users flag content. The viral claim that Zuckerberg was 'exposed' as a CIA agent traces to a 2011 Onion satire video; PolitiFact rated it 'Pants on Fire.'

In their words

“Facebook, in short, is utterly swarming with spooks.”— Alan MacLeod, MintPress News · source
The other side

Critics argue that heavy hiring from intelligence agencies, plus regular FBI and DHS briefings, could shape platform judgment without any formal chain of command. MacLeod's own reporting framed the issue as influence and proximity, not control.

Sources

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