Facebook's story around Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, billionaire philanthropist George Soros and the company's dealings with opposition conservative research firm Definers Public Affairs keeps evolving, now weeks after a
New York Times investigation into questionable operations inside Facebook.
Sandberg has cemented herself as the business face of the company, and was a particular focus of the
Times report. She drove the company's public response to scandal and orchestrated behind-the-scenes messaging while founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg was touring the country and less involved, the report says.
Part of Facebook's internal strategy, the
Times reported, involved
hiring Definers to write negative news about rivals and push the idea that liberal financier Soros was behind a growing anti-Facebook movement in an effort to delegitimize the campaign.
But Facebook and Sandberg's public stance about who at the company worked with Definers, and what the firm was tasked with researching, has evolved in the 2½ weeks since that initial report. The company declined to comment beyond its previously public statements.
Here's everything Facebook and Sandberg have said about the company's relationship with Soros and Definers since Nov. 14:
Comment: See also: Feuding manipulators: Soros' Open Society president calls for congressional oversight of Facebook