US Senator Asks Facebook CEO to Retain Documents Linked to Testimony

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies remotely via videoconference successful this screengrab made from video during a Senate Judiciary Committee proceeding connected Capitol Hill successful Washington connected Nov. 17, 2020. (U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee via Reuters)

WASHINGTON—Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell connected Tuesday called connected Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg to sphere each documents related to a testimony past week from institution whistleblower Frances Haugen.

“The grounds … raises important concerns astir whether Facebook has misled the public, national regulators, and this committee,” said Cantwell, a Democrat. “This committee volition proceed its oversight and enactment to prosecute authorities to support consumers’ privacy, amended information security, and fortify national enforcement to code the integer harms that are the taxable of these hearings.”

She asked Facebook to sphere and clasp interior Facebook probe referenced by Haugen and Facebook’s valuation of the research; ranking oregon creation systems; experiments oregon recommendations to alteration those ranking systems and the interaction of Facebook’s platforms connected children and teenagers nether the property of 18.

Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone said successful effect the institution has “absolutely nary commercialized incentive, nary motivation incentive, nary company-wide inducement to bash thing different than to effort to springiness the maximum fig of radical arsenic overmuch of a affirmative acquisition arsenic imaginable connected Facebook.”

Cantwell’s missive cited “the imaginable information that societal media platforms airs for spreading divisive contented was demonstrated, with horrifying consequences, by the relation the Facebook level played successful fomenting taste unit against the Rohingya.”

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) heads toward the Senate Chamber astatine the U.S. Capitol successful Washington connected Jan. 21, 2020. (Somodevilla/Getty Images)

She added “the relation of Facebook’s level successful the Rohingya calamity illustrates the horrible consequences that failing to efficaciously bounds the dispersed of divisive contented connected societal media platforms tin person successful inflicting nationalist harm.”

Last month, a U.S. justice ordered Facebook to merchandise records of accounts connected to anti-Rohingya unit successful Burma (also known arsenic Myanmar) that the societal media elephantine had unopen down, rejecting its statement astir protecting privateness arsenic “rich with irony.”

Last week, the Commerce Committee harshly criticized Facebook, accusing Zuckerberg of pushing for higher profits portion being cavalier astir idiosyncratic safety, and demanded regulators analyse whistleblower accusations that the societal media institution harms children’s intelligence wellness and stokes divisions.

Zuckerberg defended the company, saying the accusations were astatine likelihood with Facebook’s goals.

Haugen called for transparency astir however Facebook entices users to support scrolling, creating ample accidental for advertisers to scope them.

Haugen, a erstwhile merchandise manager connected Facebook’s civic misinformation team, near the astir $1 trillion institution with tens of thousands of confidential documents.

By David Shepardson