Move fast and break things? has been the motto at Mark Zuckerberg?s Facebook, embodying the Silicon Valley ethos of unapologetically finding new ways to solve old problems. His latest foray into politics in Washington, however, might be characterised as ?Move fast, play hardball and be prepared for blowback.?
Fwd.Us, the new nonprofit advocacy group created by Mr Zuckerberg and several technology executives and investors to push for an overhaul of immigration law, has bankrolled television ads endorsing the conservative stands taken by three lawmakers, prompting an outcry from liberal groups and a call to withhold advertisements from Facebook.
The uproar, some say, will be a lesson for American companies as they try to influence emotional political issues like immigration. But the group?s supporters brashly say they were ready for the reaction. ?Our advertising decisions are being made by a very smart team of political operatives who know that passing major reform will require some different and innovative tactics,? Jim Breyer, a venture capitalist with Accel Partners and a contributor to the cause, said in an e-mailed statement. ?I?m proud to support Fwd.Us as they work to pass comprehensive immigration reform.?
The group has faced the most vocal criticism for television advertisements sponsored by its two subsidiaries, which are known as Americans for Conservative Action and Council for American Job Growth. One of those spots takes swipes at President Obama?s health policies. Another lauds the Keystone XL pipeline, fiercely opposed by many environmental groups.
Those TV spots, which ran in several states for a week, prompted strong reaction from a coalition of liberal organisations that includes the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters and MoveOn.org. They announced earlier this week they would suspend buying advertisements on Facebook, which they acknowledged was meant to send a message and would have little economic impact on the company.
Cathy Duvall, director of strategic partnerships at the Sierra Club, said her group was especially disappointed to see the technology industry adopt a strategy that was more typical of old-fashioned, brass-knuckled Washington lobbying. ?When the ads came out they were politics as usual and divisive and pitting one issue against another,? Ms Duvall said. ?We were really surprised that Silicon Valley would be moving into the political space by doing the worst of business-as-usual politics.?
Fwd.Us, like other industry-backed interest groups, has said very little about how much money it has raised and from whom, except to name contributors on its website. It would say only that it spent in the ?seven figures? on the television spots.
The ads are particularly surprising considering some of the other backers. John Doerr, a venture capitalist, is known for his investments in clean technology companies, and his wife, Ann, has been a major donor to environmental causes.
Reid Hoffman has described himself as ?progressive? in an essay posted recently on LinkedIn, a company that he founded.
Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, in 2010 backed an effort not to roll back California?s global warming law. None of them returned calls and e-mails requesting comment for this article, referring instead to Fwd.Us operatives in Washington.
?We recognise that not everyone will always agree with or be pleased by our strategy,? said Kate Hansen, a spokeswoman for Fwd.Us. ?Fwd.Us remains totally committed to support a bipartisan policy agenda that will boot the knowledge economy, including comprehensive immigration reform.?
For his part, Mr Zuckerberg has covered his political bases. He recently held a fund-raiser for Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey, at his home in Palo Alto, Calif., and Facebook has hired several former White House and Congressional aides to work in its Washington office.
Mr Zuckerberg has declined requests to be interviewed about Fwd.Us.
Jim Manley, a former chief spokesman for Senate majority leader Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, said the ads may have achieved their goal, but Mr Zuckerberg should learn from the negative reaction. ?He is finding out it can be very, very problematic to get your company involved in hot-button social issues,? said Mr Manley. ?There is going to be blowback. You are going to pay a price for it.?
Fwd.Us has been openly criticised by others in Silicon Valley.