Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Thursday that if he could, he'd subpoena Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg today to appear before the Senate's Commerce and Judiciary Committees and explain what the social media giant is going to do to make sure consumers know what information is being shared with third parties.
"I want to know what they are going to do to make sure consumers know what information is shared with third parties, and that they be given the right to consent to it, not just opt out but opt in with full knowledge," the Connecticut Democrat told MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
"Facebook has failed to notify all of the users and consumers about what private personal information has been shared and is out there right now."
Blumenthal said he would subpoena Zuckerberg today, but he hopes the Facebook founder will come in on his own, rather than having to be subpoenaed. He added that he thinks there will have to be a subpoena for all relevant documents, as there is no guarantee that they'll all be provided.
"Facebook needs to face regulations," he said. "They have failed to uphold their trust, they have become enormously powerful in their knowledge about consumers. Their business model is to sell personal information. They need to be accountable."
Blumenthal pointed out that Facebook had initially opposed a Senate bill on facilitating sex trafficking, but then came around to support the measure.
"We worked very closely with them, Rob Portman and I who led the bill, worked on the specific language so that they have to have knowledge and knowingly facilitate sex trafficking if they're to be held accountable," said Blumenthal.
Facebook is more than a neutral platform, he continued, and must be treated as a publisher instead.
"I would do with them what we do with other print or media and require full disclosure, make sure consumers know when apps access to their information, what the apps are doing and make sure there's consent on the part of consumers," he said. "If your information is being shared, you should have a right to know and consent."
Blumenthal said he thinks Zuckerberg is "enormously intelligent" and that he understands the issues.
He also said he has strong concerns about Cambridge Analytica, the company implicated in mining Facebook users' data, and its relationship with President Donald Trump's campaign, and also with Russia.
"I think Cambridge Analytica also should be brought for our committee, they should be subpoenaed," he said.
"They are certainly knowledgeable and culpable for this massive breach and I can't emphasize enough how important it is for Facebook to come clean and notify those consumers."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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