Reports of Facebook data misuse spurs calls for regulation, scrutiny of social media firms
Revelations that a political data firm may have gained access to the personal information of as many as 50 million Facebook users drew new bipartisan calls on Capitol Hill Monday for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the heads of other social media companies to answer questions from Congress.
Late Monday, three Republican leaders of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee — including Chairman John Thune of South Dakota — said they had sent a letter to Zuckerberg asking him to answer questions about the possible privacy breach in writing by no later than 5 p.m. March 29. The letter also instructs Zuckerberg to "direct your staff" to brief the committee about the controversy.
The letter to Zuckerberg, sent by Thune and Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., requests information relating to data reportedly obtained by Strategic Communications Laboratories Group and its affiliate, Cambridge Analytica.
Facebook on Friday confirmed that it had suspended Cambridge Analytica from operating on its platforms as it investigated whether the firm failed to delete information that Cambridge Analytica had received through an academic researcher.
"Consumers rely on platforms like Facebook to be transparent and truthful in their terms of service so consumers can make informed decisions about whether to consent to the sharing and use of their data,” the senators wrote in their letter to Zuckerberg.
“We appreciate that Facebook has recently taken steps to address this situation. Nevertheless, the possibility that Facebook has either not been transparent with consumers, or has not been able to verify that third party app developers are transparent with consumers, is troubling," the senators wrote.
The Commerce committee leaders sent a separate letter to Strategic Communications Laboratories Group CEO Nigel Oakes requesting information and a briefing related to the use and sharing of individual Facebook user data.
Late Monday, three Republican leaders of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee — including Chairman John Thune of South Dakota — said they had sent a letter to Zuckerberg asking him to answer questions about the possible privacy breach in writing by no later than 5 p.m. March 29. The letter also instructs Zuckerberg to "direct your staff" to brief the committee about the controversy.
The letter to Zuckerberg, sent by Thune and Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., requests information relating to data reportedly obtained by Strategic Communications Laboratories Group and its affiliate, Cambridge Analytica.
Facebook on Friday confirmed that it had suspended Cambridge Analytica from operating on its platforms as it investigated whether the firm failed to delete information that Cambridge Analytica had received through an academic researcher.
"Consumers rely on platforms like Facebook to be transparent and truthful in their terms of service so consumers can make informed decisions about whether to consent to the sharing and use of their data,” the senators wrote in their letter to Zuckerberg.
“We appreciate that Facebook has recently taken steps to address this situation. Nevertheless, the possibility that Facebook has either not been transparent with consumers, or has not been able to verify that third party app developers are transparent with consumers, is troubling," the senators wrote.
The Commerce committee leaders sent a separate letter to Strategic Communications Laboratories Group CEO Nigel Oakes requesting information and a briefing related to the use and sharing of individual Facebook user data.
Earlier Monday, two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Democrat Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Republican John Kennedy of Louisiana, asked Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa., to hold a hearing so senators can publicly grill Zuckerberg and other social media CEOs.
"Facebook, Google, and Twitter have amassed unprecedented amounts of personal data and use this data when selling advertising, including political advertisements," the senators wrote in a letter to Grassley. "The lack of oversight on how data is stored and how political advertisements are sold raises concerns about the integrity of American elections as well as privacy rights."
Cambridge Analytica says it relies on personality surveys and thousands of pieces of data on each American to create "psychographic" profiles to predict how people will vote. The firm worked on President Trump's 2016 campaign and has had financial backing from hedge-fund billionaire and Trump supporter Robert Mercer and his family.
On Monday afternoon, Grassley spokesman George Hartmann said the senator is taking the request from Klobuchar and Kennedy "under advisement" but has not decided whether to summon the tech CEOs to Washington for a hearing.
Even before news reports emerged in recent days about the potential misuse of Facebook data, federal regulators and Congress grappled with social media's growing influence on U.S. elections and the ways in which Russian operatives used the platforms to attempt to sow social unrest ahead of the 2016 presidential contest.
During the last midterm election in 2014, digital advertising accounted for less than 1% of political spending in federal, states and local elections, according to advertising tracking firm Borrell Associates. In this election cycle, the firm predicts digital advertising will soar to about 22% — or $1.9 billion — of the more than $8 billion that it estimates will be spent on political ads.
Social media allows politicians and others trying to influence elections to target particular voters at a relatively low cost compared to television or radio ads that reach a broader audience, said Borrell executive Kip Cassino.
"People are turning away from the idea of sending your messages out to a whole bunch of people and hoping that some of them will gravitate toward it," Cassino said. "Instead, they are choosing to talk with people who already agree with their messages or are likely to agree."
The federal government, however, has struggled to catch up with the fast-changing media environment. Television broadcasters, for instance, are subject to Federal Communications Commission rules that require them to publicly detail who bought ads on their stations and how much they spent.
Facebook, Twitter and other social networks do not face similar requirements.
Just last week, the Federal Election Commission, which regulates political campaign activity, voted to begin writing rules that detail the kinds of disclaimers they will require on online and mobile political ads to identify sponsors.
The agency last wrote broad rules on Internet advertising in 2006.
Online political advertising was seen "initially as a force for good," because it offered a lower cost way for candidates to advertise and could serve as a counterweight to the influence of big political donors, said Ellen Weintraub, a veteran Democratic commission member who now serves as its vice chairwoman
"Now, we know it isn't universally good," she told USA TODAY in a Monday interview. "There are risks here."
Last November, angry senators warned attorneys for Facebook, Twitter and Google that they must do more to prevent Russian manipulation of their social media platforms or Congress would be forced to impose new rules to help people identify malicious content. Attorneys for the three social media giants testified before the House and Senate intelligence committees last Nov. 1 about how Russia exploited their platforms to meddle in the 2016 presidential election. Lawmakers expressed disappointment back then that the companies had sent their attorneys rather than their CEOs.
"This (the Cambridge Analytica news) is more evidence that the online political advertising market is essentially the Wild West," said Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, a former tech entrepreneur who serves as vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. "Whether it's allowing Russians to purchase political ads, or extensive micro-targeting based on ill-gotten user data, it's clear that, left unregulated, this market will continue to be prone to deception and lacking in transparency."
On Monday morning, Facebook officials said they were undertaking an audit into the allegations about Cambridge Analytica. An update on Facebook's blog said later that independent forensic auditors from Stroz Friedberg were on site at Cambridge Analytica’s London office on Monday evening. However, the Facebook blog reported: "At the request of the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, which has announced it is pursuing a warrant to conduct its own on-site investigation, the Stroz Friedberg auditors stood down."
Zuckerberg has pledged to stop foreign operatives from meddling in U.S. elections — but has admitted he's not sure whether Facebook can prevent the problems of the 2016 presidential campaign from recurring in this year's midterm elections.
"We have a pretty good track record as a company of — once we set our mind to doing something — we eventually get it done," Zuckerberg told USA TODAY in a November interview. But, he conceded, "I don't know how long it will take to address this."
Warner and Klobuchar said the latest revelations underscore the need for Congress to quickly pass the Honest Ads Act, a bipartisan bill that they introduced with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to require Facebook, Twitter, Google and other social media companies to disclose who is paying for political ads that appear on their online platforms.
Facebook disclosed last September that it had identified more than $100,000 worth of political ads purchased by a Russian company linked to the Kremlin. Most of the 3,000 ads, which ran between June 2015 and May 2017, focused on divisive issues such as immigration, gun control, gay rights and race.
The Honest Ads Act would require social media companies to follow the same rules as radio, television and print media when it comes to public disclosure of who is sponsoring political ads.
An identical bill has been introduced in the House by Reps. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., and Mike Coffman, R-Colo.
However, there have so far been no hearings or votes on the bill in either chamber. The Republican-led Congress has generally been reluctant to impose any new regulations on business.
Meredith McGehee, executive director of the Issue One watchdog group, helped draft the Honest Ads proposals. She also blamed the stalemate on partisanship, particularly as lawmakers prepare to face voters in November.
"Right now, if you use the words 'social media' in the context of the election, it's assumed you are espousing an anti-Trump message," she said, "so it scares away most Republicans."
By: Fredreka Schouten and Erin Kelly
Source: KiiiTV