Ex-Facebook Employee Describes Atmosphere at Facebook's HQ As Cult-Like
ASHER: Returning now to our top story, "AMI" is not just known for the national inquiry -- or "National Enquirer" rather, although it may be its most notorious publication. "American Media" titles include "Touch Men's Journal", "Muscle & Fitness" and teen titles like "J-14". But the "Enquirer" is also known for its ties to President Trump as well. Cnn Senior Media reporter Oliver Darcy joins us live now. So Oliver, here's my question to you. What we're seeing with this battle between Jeff Bezos and "AMI" and the "National Enquirer", is this a watershed moment in tabloid journalism to seeing the world's richest man stand up to being blackmailed and allegedly extorted as well?</s>OLIVER DARCY, CNN SENIOR MEDIA REPORTER: Right, if this isn't the watershed moment, I don't know what would be. I mean, this story is absolutely explosive. Jeff Bezos of course started it yesterday when he published a 2,000-word blog post detailing blackmail allegations against "National Enquirer's" parent company, "American Media, Inc.", and it's been going on since then. The "American Media, Inc."; the parent company of "National Enquirer" denies basically any legal wrongdoing in a statement. But they said they're going to investigate Bezos' allegations. But this really started when the "National Enquirer" published a story a few weeks ago to telling and reviewing that Bezos had been involved in an extra-marital affair. In that story, there were text messages that they obtained between Bezos and his mistress. Bezos wanted to know how they got those text messages, and so he launched an investigation into this. And from the e-mails that Bezos published in his blog post yesterday, "AMI" basically was saying, if you do not stop your investigation, if you don't cease this investigation, we're going to release more risque photos of you. We have these photos of you in compromising positions and we're going to release those. And that's what Bezos said. In his blog post, he said he's not going to give into, and he sort of blackmailed and he published the post, and now here we are.</s>ASHER: Good, I mean, honestly, good for him. We actually polled our audience and asked them, what would you do if you were in the same situation, most people saying that they would do what Bezos is doing, which is standing up and fighting. My question to you is from a journalist perspective, just in terms of "AMI's" argument, is there any -- or could there ever be any news worthiness in publishing nude pictures of the world's richest man? That is what "AMI" is saying.</s>DARCY: I mean, I can't imagine. The National Tabloid" -- the "National Enquirer" of course traffics in tabloid gossip and things like that. So maybe they would argue that this is, you know, relative to their arguments. But they've already published a lot of things about Bezos. And I think at this point, it was clear -- at least, seemingly clear in the e-mails that Bezos published from the "National Enquirer" to him, that they were basically saying, we have these photos and we're asking you nicely to cease your investigation to say that there was no political motivation for us publishing that story. And if you don't -- by the way, we have these photos and it might come out. It seemed clear what they were trying to do, and Bezos put a very black and white term, saying it was blackmail and extortion.</s>ASHER: He was very smart in how he responded actually. Oliver Darcy live for us, thank you so much, appreciate that --</s>DARCY: Thank you.</s>ASHER: So working at Facebook apparently is like being in a cult or in "Game of Thrones", that's according to current and former company insider speaking with Cnn. For the past year, we've been telling you about all of the myriad problems plaguing Facebook and how top leadership have responded as Facebook turns 15. Laurie Segall goes inside to understand the culture in the C-Suite.</s>ALEX STAMOS, FORMER CHIEF SECURITY OFFICER, FACEBOOK: The truth is there is a bit of "Game of Thrones" culture among the executives. And one of the problems about having a really tight-knit set of people making all these decisions, if you keep the same people in the same places, it's just very difficult to admit you were wrong, right?</s>LAURIE SEGALL, CNN SENIOR TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The company is powerful, and after spending time behind Facebook's walls, there's another thing that emerged, folks who had something to say, but were afraid to say it.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Working at Facebook can feel a little bit like being part of a cult.</s>SEGALL: This former employee asked us to protect their identity.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speaking out against the company is not welcome. There is a career impact where you might get blacklisted, and you're not going to get hired.</s>SEGALL: Ironically, in a place that's connected billions, this home employee cites a disconnect with them.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People aren't really encouraged to bring bad news to Mark because generally Mark doesn't handle bad news well. In public setting, he politely argues against it. In private setting, he's more likely to really, aggressively go against that information or challenge the source, to challenge the assumptions, to honestly not believe the bad news.</s>SEGALL: Facebook is in transition, many executives have left over rumor disputes about the company's direction including the founders of Instagram and WhatsApp. And they saw the controversy, there's been speculation. Should Zuckerberg who is CEO, Chairman and the majority shareholder in Facebook step aside?</s>MARK ZUCKERBERG, FOUNDER, CHAIRMAN & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, FACEBOOK: That's not the plan?</s>SEGALL: That's not the plan. Would anything change that?</s>ZUCKERBERG: I mean, if I could eventually over time, I mean, I'm not going to -- I'm not going to be doing this forever.</s>ASHER: Not going to be doing this forever, interesting. Laurie Segall is joining us live. So Laurie, it's interesting because it's not just privacy and fake news that Facebook has to deal with, but it's also their own culture. They have to clean house themselves. How does a company like Facebook --</s>SEGALL: Yes --</s>ASHER: Go inside and change culture.</s>SEGALL: I think that's what they're dealing with now, I think it's been a tumultuous time for the company. And in all fairness, you know, not every employee feels this way. But you know, there was this pattern because we shot this documentary over six or seven months. You know, in talking to, a lot of former employees who want to speak a little bit more openly. Maybe not even saying terrible things about Facebook, but having a more nuance conversation about some of the challenges that the company is facing. They were too afraid to go on the record, they just said it wasn't worth it for the career impact in Silicon Valley. This is a close-knit place and you know, I think that's part of the problem. And I think at this time at Facebook, where these -- you know, these problems need to come out in the open, there need to be a lot of debate over them. That's an issue, you know, I know there have been a lot of changes internally with a lot of these executives leaving, but that group, that closer group next to Mark Zuckerberg is still very much intact in there.</s>ASHER: It's interesting. So we've seen how the company has evolved over the first 15 years. Where do you see it going over the next 15 years? Will Facebook still -- when my son is 15 years old, will Facebook still be around in the same format as it is now?</s>SEGALL: I think it's always evolving. Mark Zuckerberg was very smart here, he had a lot of foresight when he bought Instagram, and he bought WhatsApp because I think in many ways, a lot of these acquisitions he believed would be the future of Facebook. So your son might be using Instagram, and Instagram is owned by Facebook, and I can see a lot more innovation coming in that room. I know they've focused on virtual reality, and that could be something kind of down the pipeline. And Mark Zuckerberg's mission which we covered a lot in this documentary is to connect the world, and that is not slowing down. You know, he plans to do that in every way, shape or form, which will mean a whole new set of problems that will come along with that. And I think it will be up to Facebook to better anticipate those problems and get on top of them quicker than they have in the last couple of years.</s>ASHER: All right, Laurie Segall, thank you -- and speaking of my son, there's going to be a social media ban in my house --</s>SEGALL: I can only imagine --</s>ASHER: For sure. Laurie Segall, thank you so much --</s>SEGALL: Thank you --</s>ASHER: Appreciate that. OK, so be sure to set your DVR for Laurie's special report, "</s>FACEBOOK AT 15: It's Complicated", that airs Sunday at 9:00 p.m., that is U.S. East Coast time, and by the way, that's 10:00 a.m. Monday morning in Hong Kong only on Cnn. After the break, we are in a dying minutes for trade in a Friday afternoon right here in New York, we're going to check those markets in a moment.