Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg: We Were Too Slow to Respond to Russian Interference, ‘That is On Us’
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey are on Capitol Hill today answering questions about foreign influence and use of social media for disruption and other bad acts. In her opening remarks, Facebook’s Sandberg took responsibility on behalf of the company for their slow response to Russian interference in 2016.
“At its best, Facebook plays a positive role in our democracy, enabling representatives to connect with their constituents, reminding people to register and to vote, and giving people a place to freely express their opinions about the issues that matter to them,” Sandberg began. “However, we’ve also seen what can happen when our service is abused.”
“As a bipartisan report from this committee said, Russia used social media as part of, and I quote, a comprehensive and multi-faceted campaign to sow discord, undermine democratic institutions, and interfere in U.S. elections and those of our allies,” she explained.
“We were too slow to spot this, and too slow to act. That is on us,” said Sandberg. “This interference was completely unacceptable. It violated the values of our company, and of the country we love.”
This acceptance of a large amount of responsibility generated enough reaction on, ironically, social media, that the Facebook COO became a trending topic on Twitter.
Sandberg went on to list some of the steps the company has taken, including offering numbers of accounts and pages they’ve taken down in the last few months, in an effort to stop that interference. Mediaite will have more video, reactions, and analysis of the tech company executives’ testimony as it becomes available.
Watch the clip above, via the Washington Post.
[Featured image via screengrab]
—
Comments
↓ Scroll down for comments ↓