Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg is in Washington, DC this week to meet with members of Congress, including House Intelligence Committee leadership, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD), and members of the Congressional Black Caucus who have concerns about the lack of diversity at Facebook as well as the way the social network impacts communities of color.
In the wake of news that Russian-linked online ads have sought to exploit racial divides, Representatives Robin Kelly (D-IL), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), and Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) sent a letter to Facebook and Twitter on Friday, October 7th asking for action:
“As members of the House of Representatives, we owe it to the communities we represent to ensure that social media platforms are not manipulated to incite violence, sow discord, or undermine our democratic institutions,” Kelly, Watson Coleman, and Cleaver begin. “Members of Color, in particular, are additionally impacted by this issue, as the communities we represent are disproportionately strong consumers of social media, and additionally vulnerable to these attacks and misinformation.”
Sandberg also plans to do an interview and address the issue of Russian election interference during a public event with Axios' Mike Allen while in town.
The Senate Intelligence Committee has invited representatives from Facebook, Twitter, and Google to testify publicly on November 1, 2017 about Russian influence on the 2016 election. All three are expected to attend.
UPDATE: CNN's Manu Raju tweets that after meeting with Sandberg, Representatives Mike Conaway (R-TX) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) say the House Intelligence Committee will release the Russian-bought Facebook ads to the public but probably not before November 1st.
Sheryl Sandberg is headed to D.C. to do damage control on Facebook’s Russian ad problem (Recode)
Facebook’s Sandberg goes to DC to fend off Russian ad criticism (CNET)