Former Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Friday that members of Congress missed an opportunity during Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s hearing.
“It is the issue of our time — that disruptive technological change — whether it be in digital, cyberattacks, hatred, darkness, [or] lies on social media,” Mr. Carter said on CNN.
He said Mr. Zuckerberg’s hearing on Capitol Hill last month failed to answer any of the tough questions about how companies, lawmakers and users of online platforms can work together to prevent this from happening again.
“I feel like the Zuckerberg hearing was a missed opportunity for both sides. I think you’re right that members of Congress were unprepared, and Mr. Zuckerberg wasn’t giving any plan,” Mr. Carter said.
He added that the vague consensus seemed to be that companies like Facebook needed to do a better job monitoring their companies and protecting user data, but there wasn’t a solid plan presented.
“It seemed to be understood that some mixture of self-regulation by companies behaving morally and government regulation was needed, but no plan came out, and it just disappeared into the air,” Mr. Carter said.
Facebook and other social media companies came under fire last year after it was revealed that foreign-backed ads appeared on users’ pages in an attempt to influence the 2016 election. Mr. Zuckerberg’s company also faced a new round of scrutiny after reports that they gave user information to an outside data company with connections to the Trump campaign.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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