Meta Fires Manager of Global Community Development Over Inappropriate Texts to a Minor

Sophie Webster, Tech Times 18 February 2022, 07:02 pm

Meta, Facebook's parent company, has fired its manager of global community development, Jeren A. Miles, after a video of him went viral on YouTube, Reddit and other social media sites. He was featured in a video conducted by amateurs who did sting operations to catch pedophiles.

Meta Fires Manager of Global Community Development

According to TechCrunch, the 2-hour video was posted by an amateur group called PCI Predator Catchers Indianapolis on its YouTube page.

The video did not depict Miles caught in any sexual activity, nor admitting to any sex act, nor admitting to intending to carry out any sexual activity. It is not clear what the legal ramifications of this will be.

However, the video does feature two people questioning Miles, who during the interrogation admits to having graphic and inappropriate communications with a 13-year-old boy. It is damning enough exchange that Miles has deleted all of his social profiles on sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Also Read: Meta Facebook App Down But Says Service is Back Now-What Happened to Messenger, Instagram?

A Meta spokesperson released a statement regarding the incident. The social media company believes that the seriousness of the allegations can't be overstated.

The company also confirmed that Miles is no longer with them. The spokesperson added that they are actively investigating the situation and refuse to provide further comment at this time.

Meta's statement was given to TechCrunch reporter Ingrid Lunden by Drew Pusateri.

Meta has had controversy after controversy for years, ranging from data protection and privacy issues, poor product executions, and failing user numbers on the site. Now, the company is battling underage sex scandals.

Refreshing its PR

Despite all of the problems, the company is trying to refresh its PR offense. Just this week, the company named former U.K politician Nick Clegg as their president of global affairs, according to CNBC.

Nick Clegg was a former deputy prime minister of the U.K. He has been elevated to new heights at the social media company under a new title of president of global affairs in its senior management team.

The position is an upgrade on the VP of global affairs and communications title Clegg was recruited for back in 2018, with more responsibilities and a direct reporting line to Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg in addition to COO Sheryl Sandberg.

So why is a British man relevant to a tech giant that is based in the United States? In a statement announcing Clegg's new position, Zuckerberg stated that Clegg would be key to helping Meta chart the choppy waters of a regulatory landscape and at the same time rebranding its data-mining ad company as a future-building metaverse company.

European regulations poised to target Meta's tracking-based ad business model. Checking which could get the ball rolling to fund an expensive rebranding of its ads business is just a more invasive and immersive surveillance environment.

Long-delayed enforcement of existing EU privacy laws also pose a threat to Meta's empire. They now threaten to cut off its lucrative transatlantic data flows.

And if Google Analytics breach the EU's General Data Protection Regulation over personal data exports, it is difficult to see how even a well-paid Meta lawyer could successfully defend a claim that Facebook's data flows don't.