Claire McCaskill intern updated Facebook info.
Published Sept. 29, 2006
Before Monday, state auditor and senatorial candidate Claire McCaskill's campaign did not know that anyone was updating her Facebook profile.
Campaign representatives for McCaskill, D-Mo., discovered the profile, which listed favorite music and quotes, educational history and other information, after speaking with The Maneater that day. When they called Facebook with questions, Facebook contacted user Eric Kocher and confirmed he had the login information. Kocher could not be reached for comment.
Adrianne Marsh, a spokeswoman for McCaskill's campaign, acknowledged that the person who maintained the profile was a summer intern who has since returned to school, but she would not divulge that person's identity.
"If it was in fact an intern with the campaign, then that implies to me that they were contacted with login information and so the proper communication happened," Facebook spokeswoman Brandee Barker said.
When Facebook officials created 1,400 profiles for gubernatorial and congressional candidates earlier this month, they gave login information to national and state political parties.
Neither the campaign nor Facebook knows for sure how the user accessed McCaskill's profile.
"It sounds like it was just a miscommunication between the state party and the McCaskill campaign," Barker said.
The Missouri Democratic Party was not contacted by Facebook, spokesman Jack Cardetti said. He said he did not recognize Kocher's name. The National Democratic Party was unavailable for comment.
Barker said any miscommunications or misunderstandings shouldn't undermine people's trust of Facebook.
"I think that the election 2006 network and the poll features that are a part of it have been a great opportunity for candidates and that Facebook has communicated with the parties in a very systematic way," Barker said. "I don't think that we're facing any legitimacy issues with it."