Sheryl Sandberg accused of helping bury Kotick news story, WSJ reports

While there are conflicting reports about whether Sandberg directly cited Facebook in her communications with the Mail, the Journal said Kotick told people that Sandberg threatened the Mail in 2016 by saying that if such an article were published, it could damage the news organisation’s business relationship with Facebook. — Reuters

Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Meta Platforms Inc, is the subject of internal scrutiny at the social media company for allegedly using her influence to quash two stories about her former boyfriend, Activision Blizzard Inc chief executive officer Bobby Kotick, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Sandberg reportedly contacted the digital version of the UK newspaper the Daily Mail in 2016 and in 2019 because the news organisation was reporting on a story that would have unveiled a temporary restraining order against Kotick that had been obtained by a former girlfriend in 2014, according to the Journal, which cited anonymous sources.