Senate Democrats Urge DOJ to Probe Facebook Retaliation Against Critics

HIGH SCRUTINY

Updated Nov. 16, 2018 6:57AM EST / Published Nov. 15, 2018 11:07PM EST

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Senate Democrats sent a letter to the Justice Department on Thursday requesting that it “expand” any of its investigations into Facebook to include determining whether the company “retaliated against critics or public officials seeking to regulate the platform” or hid “vital” information. Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Coons (D-DE), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) wrote the letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein after a New York Times report described how the company turned to a right-wing opposition firm to spread disinformation about Facebook’s protesters and rivals. In the letter, the senators describe how congressional scrutiny and the media forced the social network to admit that Russian election interference happened on its platform. They also called Facebook’s actions an attempt to “undermine efforts to hold them responsible.” “If not properly disclosed, such steps may have implications for securities and campaign-finance law,” the letter read.

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Senate Democrats Urge DOJ to Probe Facebook Retaliation Against Critics

Eric Gaillard/Getty