Langevin Calls for Increased Accountability for Social Media Giants

Congressman Jim Langevin, co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus, issued the following statement regarding the need for Facebook and other social media platforms to improve accountability measures and for Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, to testify before Congress:

“Recent news reports have put in startling relief the lack of accountability that exists for companies that possess massive troves of information about us. I am disturbed that Facebook’s response to a developer misusing data was simply a letter requesting that the data be deleted. I am appalled that Facebook has the temerity to act surprised that not all of the copies were actually destroyed. Mr. Zuckerberg must come to Capitol Hill and give a full accounting of what personal details were shared inappropriately, how many users were affected, and the steps Facebook has taken to prevent future such incidents.

“Social media companies amass incredible amounts of data about their users and have enormous power to influence, as demonstrated by Putin’s use of platforms including Facebook in an attempt to undermine the 2016 election. Companies have long said that they should be allowed to collect data because they can responsibly safeguard it. Given the Cambridge Analytica incident, it is clear that Facebook has not lived up to that responsibility, and Congress must take action to protect Americans’ personal information.”