Facebook's Sandberg Vows Action Following Reports of Russian Interference
December 18 2018 - 10:39AM
Dow Jones News
By Dustin Volz
WASHINGTON -- Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg
said Tuesday the company needed to do more to protect its users
from disinformation efforts, after researchers found Russian trolls
attempted to suppress African-American voter turnout during the
2016 election.
"Facebook is committed to working with leading U.S. civil rights
organizations to strengthen and advance civil rights on our
service," Ms. Sandberg wrote on her own Facebook page Tuesday
morning. "They've raised a number of important concerns, and I'm
grateful for their candor and guidance. We know that we need to do
more: to listen, look deeper and take action to respect fundamental
rights."
On Monday, the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People said it was returning a recent donation from
Facebook following the release of two reports on Russian
interference in the 2016 election, commissioned by the Senate
Intelligence Committee. Those studies found that Russian trolls
aimed social media posts at black voters, seeking to stoke racial
tensions and suppress turnout among African-Americans, who tend to
vote Democratic.
The NAACP, one of the oldest U.S. civil-rights organizations,
has criticized the use of targeting on the social media giant, the
"utilization of Facebook for propaganda promoting disingenuous
portrayals of the African American community," and more.
The group has called for a one-week boycott of Facebook and
additional congressional investigations.
Ms. Sandberg, who has been under scrutiny in recent weeks for
her role managing Facebook's response to Russia's election
interference in 2016, acknowledged the reports' findings. She
highlighted Facebook's release Tuesday of initial findings of a
civil-rights audit led by Laura Murphy, a former legislative
director at the American Civil Liberties Union, that highlighted
issues related to ad-targeting of minority groups, a lack of
diversity at Facebook and voter suppression.
"We take this incredibly seriously, as demonstrated by the
investments we've made in safety and security," Ms. Sandberg said.
"The civil rights audit is deeply important to me, and it's one of
my top priorities for 2019. I'm committed to overseeing its
progress and making sure that it is a well-resourced, cross-company
effort."
Write to Dustin Volz at dustin.volz@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 18, 2018 10:24 ET (15:24 GMT)
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