Facebook throws annual holiday party for employees after year of data leaks and fake news scandals

Inside Facebook’s opulent two-day Christmas party: Social media giant builds a huge winter village in San Francisco with a ‘thumbs up tavern’ for staff after their VERY turbulent year, as Mark Zuckerberg and execs celebrate in an exclusive VIP area

  • Facebook threw a two-night holiday bash for tens of thousands of its employees in San Francisco
  • Menlo Park, California-based company rented out the Palace of Fine Arts on Friday and Saturday
  • There was a polar bear ice sculpture made with a chainsaw, free alcohol, and all the candy and donuts you could eat
  • Company has been mired in scandal and negative headlines this year over sharing of data and the spread of ‘fake news’ 

After a difficult year of negative headlines about data leaks and fake news, Facebook workers certainly had a lot to ‘like’ about their annual Christmas party.

The Menlo Park-based social network threw a two-day bash at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.

The theme of the event was a winter village that offered attractions like a ‘thumbs up tavern’.

The company spared no expense, hiring Christmas dancers and an ice sculptor who used a chainsaw to create a giant-sized polar bear, according to Business Insider.

There was even a ski-lift gondola, festive decorations, holiday lights, drumming toy soldiers, and a sweet shop with donuts and candy.

The Facebook holiday party this weekend at the Palace of Fine Arts featured a ski-lift gondola (above)

There was also a 'thumbs up tavern' where employees could get some drinks

There was also a ‘thumbs up tavern’ where employees could get some drinks

One of the highlights was an ice sculpture of a polar bear (as seen above)

One of the highlights was an ice sculpture of a polar bear (as seen above)

The sculpture was made by an artist who used a chainsaw (as seen in the image above)

The sculpture was made by an artist who used a chainsaw (as seen in the image above)

The party was held over two nights in order to give the tens of thousands of people working for the company an opportunity to blow off steam.

If any of the employees were looking to mingle with ‘the Zuck’ – CEO Mark Zuckerberg – or COO Sheryl Sandberg, they were most likely disappointed.

There was a special VIP section that was cordoned off for the top executives, though it is unclear if Zuckerberg was there.

Sandberg, however, was seen on the premises.

Zuckerberg, Sandberg, and their company have been in the news in recent months, though the headlines were largely negative.

The two-day bash for the company's tens of thousands of employees in the Bay Area came after a difficult year for Facebook

The two-day bash for the company’s tens of thousands of employees in the Bay Area came after a difficult year for Facebook

Facebook came under fire for its role in allowing the spread of ‘fake news’ – allegedly masterminded by Russia – that is thought to have had an impact on the 2016 elections.

The company has also been accused of allowing disinformation to be spread on its platform which allegedly facilitated the genocide of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

In March, it was learned that a British-based political consultancy firm, Cambridge Analytica, which had ties to the Trump campaign, misused data of tens of millions of Facebook users.

In September, Facebook acknowledged that a data breach affected 50 million users.

Two weeks later, the company said that data belonging to 29 million other users had been stolen.

On Friday, Facebook said it discovered a bug that may have affected up to 6.8 million people who used Facebook login to grant permission to third-party apps to access photos.

The incident may have affected up to 1,500 apps built by 876 developers, the company said here, adding that it has fixed the issue.

Facebook said some third-party apps may have gained access to broader set of photos than usual for 12 days between Sept. 13 to Sept. 25. 

As if those scandals weren’t bad enough, last month Facebook admitted that it hired a Republican-linked public relations firm to do opposition research on company critics like George Soros and others. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk