Ex-Fox News host: when I filed a sexual harassment claim against Ailes, the company hacked and stalked me

Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/04/28/fox-psyops.html

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If there is one thing that any company run by Rupert Murdoch is good at, it’s hacking the victims of crime.

Let’s hope that Fox News goes the same way as the News of the World.

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Sounds like they borrowed from Scientology’s playbook:

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Fox hired a brunette? I call FAKE NEWS!

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OK, I realize this is a bad thing, but really is anyone surprised?

I think Ailes is best understood as a cult leadership figure. His followers act like cultists; they believe the distorted view of reality the cult gives them even when it conflicts with observable reality, and they justify objectively immoral behavior with a worldview that posits the cult itself as the source of morality.

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I’m perhaps a bit more cynical. Considering Ailes’ past I don’t think they believe any of their B.S. but they do love that sweet conservative money.

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contracted with a psyops team to set up a “black room” to run a hate campaign that targeted her by cyberstalking her, implanting malware on her computer, and libeling her on “fake news” sites.

You would think that such a “psyops team” would have trouble staying in business, with so many out there willing to do dirty deeds for dirt cheap.

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high-profile “fake” media sites which Fox News (or its social influence contractors) owned or controlled.

What sites are these? Can they provide any proof of a link of ownership?

the same day she was fired, a number of e-mails were remotely wiped from her BlackBerry.

This isn’t unusual. Many companies will remote wipe their data off your phone - something you most likely agreed to as part of the usage agreement to connect your phone to their email.

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Ex-Fox News host:

Whatever they were paying her, it wasn’t enough.

Yet another reason to avoid owing a cell phone. If you don’t own one, a company has to provide their own hardware to you if they want the ability to remote control it :).

Also, watching the brains of HR and IT people vapor-lock when you tell them you don’t have a cell phone is kind of amusing, although possibly a bit cruel.

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Do you really not have a cell phone?
I’ve worked where they stopped providing phones, but would kick down a stipend. They also wanted to be able to wipe it if you used it for company email, but I just submitted my expense report and took my money - I work in IT… :slight_smile:
I think a lot of companies are getting away from the whole remote wipe capability thing for BYO. Also, if you really wanted to abscond with email, it’s not like that’s too difficult. Or anything for that matter.
Securing the network and devices from intrusion is a hell of a lot more important…

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Basically I’m old enough not to need a cell phone. My habits and competencies were all sorted long before pocket size phones were affordable to mere mortals; if you can’t reach me at home or at work, you just leave a message. I’ll get around to it eventually.

My employers begrudgingly provide me with phones (sometimes multiple phones) but I don’t use them very much, because I’d quickly become dependent on them if I did. I like to turn them off unless I am traveling or specifically on call for some reason.

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Well, I think her biggest problem was that she wasn’t blonde while being a female on Fox News.

I have a cell phone (albeit not a smart phone) but I am so unaccustomed to using it that I go weeks at a time without carrying it or looking at it. I have such an old, pre-paid plan that only needs annual topping off that most of the people in the verizon storefront have NO idea how to do it.

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The only real surprise is that, apparently, a rather large; valuable; publicly traded company didn’t have enough lawful-evil types available to take a “Why add potential criminal charges to a civil case you can make go away for peanuts?” stance.

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That sounds like there’s a lot of potential for criminal charges there.

Agree. My first thought was “News Flash: willing (media) puppets treated poorly.” Or as the saying goes, “lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas.”

I have a hard time sympathizing with any Fox anchor who willingly reports their so-called “news.”

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BYO often requires you to grant remote wipe permissions. At least on Android where I have had that set up on a few phones.

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Yea, I’m sure some places still do. Sometimes if they have OWA (which most companies have) you can just use a 3rd party app for mail and collect your stipend. I use Mail+ on my iphone.

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