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Comment by nikolay | Hacker News Reader

Why was Facebook stashing so many masks? Anyway, if they didn't donate them, the Goverment said they are gonna confiscate them, and this was already clear.

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FTA: “To help, Facebook donated our emergency reserve of 720,000 masks that we had bought in case the wildfires continued,” Zuckerberg said in a post

We're not talking 70K masks, we're talking 720K! These masks have an expiration date. I want them to publish their purchase documents! I won't be surprised if they bought them back in February like possibly many other corporations and that's why we ended up with no masks.

Man, this really is a case of no good deed goes unpunished, isn't it. That the response to a donation of their emergency reserves comes with "clearly they were up to no good" isn't exactly encouraging further cooperation.

This amount is only sufficient for a week or two for their employees.

They had them for wildfire smoke, which seems pretty reasonable.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-23/zuckerber...

The government also said that “everyone who wants to get tested can get tested”. And with all the specificity we have come to expect and love, he-who-shall-not-be-named also said “lots and lots, very much many” masks had been acquired.

Yet according to https://www.vox.com/2020/3/23/21191003/coronavirus-trump-def..., the federal government has not made a single order for masks, ventilators, or any other material. So I’d be surprised if they directly went for requisitions, especially from non-producers such as Facebook. I’d actually be surprised if they even knew Facebook had masks.

So: have a link for “the government said”?

It says in the article they were purchased in case of continued wildfires.

Do you have a source for the government confiscating emergency supplies? My understanding was that that was only in cases of hoarding and profiteering in response to this crisis.

“To help, Facebook donated our emergency reserve of 720,000 masks that we had bought in case the wildfires continued,” Zuckerberg said in a post, adding that the company is also working on “sourcing a lot more to donate.”

> Anyway, if they didn't donate them, the Goverment said they are gonna confiscate them, and this was already clear.

There are going to be lawsuits going on for a decade because of the government ordering things that they are not allowed to do.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_immunity (Sovereign immunity)

I know the concept. Schiff just tried to apply it to not having to reveal his subpoenas.

But "Qualified" immunity is an adjunct concept.

Just pointing out it’s a steep hill to climb.

US Government has confiscated much more than facemasks in the past.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Railroad_Adminis...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amtrak

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrail

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Proclamation

Wildfires.

and what about the 1'500'000 gloves they were hoarding ? wildfires too ?

Characterizing preparedness as 'hording' is a socially toxic behavior which will discourage future preparedness.

It's not like they had plans to sell them for price gouging purposes nor did they purchase them immediately ahead of a crisis and create/contribute to a shortage or anything anti-social like that.

For durable emergency supplies like masks. all of us should, if we're able, be maintaining a supply outside of emergency times to help buffer demand shocks at times of need.

haha, we don't talk about the same zuck :)

Read the article. It says why.

It doesn't explain the vast amount of masks and gloves. They were stashing. I want to see a document showing exactly when they've purchased them. I won't be surprised if it was in 2020. These masks have expiry, so, why would one company stash so many - their staff is nowhere close!

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