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Can Facebook fix itself? Sen. John Kennedy has doubts ahead of Mark Zuckerberg testimony

Facebook is taking steps to protect users' privacy after revelations that Cambridge Analytica may have accessed information from up to 87 million users, leaving many users feeling 'creepy' about using Facebook and social media. (April 5) AP

One of the senators slated to question Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg this week said Sunday he worries that the social media company will not be able to stop the spread of phony news or adequately protect users’ privacy on its own.

“I don't want to hurt Facebook. I don't want to regulate them half to death. But we have a problem,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said on CBS’ Face the Nation. “My biggest worry with all this is that the privacy issue and what I call, called the propagandist issue are both too big for Facebook to fix, and that's the frightening part."

Kennedy is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is scheduled to hear testimony from Zuckerberg on Tuesday following revelations that personal information from more than 85 million Facebook users was shared without their permission.

“I'm hoping that Mr. Zuckerberg will come to the table and say, 'OK, here are the problems, here some suggested solutions, let's talk it through together,'” Kennedy said. “But you know some people respond when they see the light. Others have to feel the heat, and these issues are not going away.”

He complained that Facebook has been less than forthcoming in the past and sent a lawyer, rather than Zuckerberg, to testify at a previous hearing.  

The hearing Tuesday will be held jointly with the Senate Commerce Committee. Zuckerberg is also scheduled to appear Wednesday at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

In blog post last Wednesday, Facebook revealed that data collected by an app from as many as 87 million users was sold to Cambridge Analytica, a company that used the profiles to create election ad-targeting tools for Trump's campaign.

More: Here's how to protect your personal info on Facebook

On Friday, Zuckerberg said Facebook is instituting new rules for political advertisersthat will require them to verify their identities and location before allowing them to place ads.

“I think it's a start,” Kennedy said Sunday, adding that he has doubts that Facebook even knows who’s running ads. “We need to talk about how we're going to find out. And again, you're going to get off quickly into First Amendment issues as well.”

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., listens to testimony during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Dec. 6, 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Drew Angerer, Getty Images)

Facebook first pledged to make the changes last fall after disclosing that more than 3,000 ads were bought by 470 fake accounts and pages run by the Internet Research Agency, a shadowy organization in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Kennedy said he hopes Zuckerberg will be frank at the hearing, but if not, he said, “Well, we can do it the easy way or the hard way.”

“We do have two major problems we've discovered. One is the privacy issue and the other is the propagandist issue,” he said. “Now Facebook needs to talk with us frankly about how we can fix that and if it doesn't know how to fix it, which is my biggest worry, it needs to be be very frank in that regard too.”

More: As Facebook reels from 'catastrophic moment' in Cambridge Analytica crisis, Mark Zuckerberg is silent


Sheryl Sandberg Says Facebook Takes Responsibility For Cambridge Analytica Incident Time


Facebook is introducing an “unsend” button in Messenger, after CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other Facebook execs received backlash for having their own messages retracted, according to Techcrunch. Veuer's Sam Berman has the full story. Buzz60

Source: USA Today

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