US Senators Move to Regulate Facebook in Wake of Zuckerberg Testimony

© AP Photo / Paul Sakuma, FileFILE - In this Dec. 13, 2011 file photo, a sign with Facebook's "Like" logo is posted at Facebook headquarters near the office for the company's User Operations Safety Team in Menlo Park, Calif.
FILE - In this Dec. 13, 2011 file photo, a sign with Facebook's Like logo is posted at Facebook headquarters near the office for the company's User Operations Safety Team in Menlo Park, Calif. - Sputnik International
Subscribe
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - New legislation will bolster government regulation of social media in light of Facebook’s failure to adequately protect user information, Senators John Kennedy and Amy Klobuchar said in a press release.

On Wednesday, during a congressional hearing on protecting consumer data, Kennedy warned Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg that Congress may be forced to regulate the social media giant. Zuckerberg testified for two days this week to answer questions related to how a political consulting firm harvested personal data from some 87 million Facebook users.

"The data breach at Facebook showed the world that the digital promised land is not all milk and honey. We’ve discovered some impurities in the punch bowl," Kennedy said in the release on Thursday. "I don’t want to regulate Facebook half to death, but there are things that need to be changed. Our bill will help protect Americans’ online data fingerprint."

Facebook HQ - Sputnik International
Facebook More Interested in Exploiting Personal Data Than Protection - Analyst
According to the news release, the bill will improve transparency and strengthen consumers’ recourse options following a breach. Companies will also be required to comply with new privacy policies that better protect consumers as part of the proposed legislation.

In March, it was made public that personal information of up to 87 million Facebook users had been harvested by the Cambridge Analytica consultancy firm without their permission. While working for major political campaigns, the firm gathered data to develop a mechanism that would predict and influence the behavior of US voters.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала