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Facebook Admits it ‘Needs to Do More’ to Stop Black Vote Suppression After Senate Report

Senate reports concluded Russian agents used social media to dissuade African-Americans from voting.

Facebook's chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg admitted Tuesday that the company “needs to do more” to prevent African-American voter suppression after two damning Senate reports were released Monday. The reports from the Senate intelligence committee concluded that the Internet Research Agency used social media services to aid President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign by trying to dissuade African-Americans from voting. The reports “suggest that the IRA's efforts had a disproportionate impact on communities of color,” Sandberg wrote. “We take this incredibly seriously, as demonstrated by the investments we’ve made in safety and security,” she said, adding: “We need to do more.” Sandberg's post was published alongside a nine-page update on a civil rights audit of Facebook being conducted by Laura Murphy, the former director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington legislative office.