Walden, Pallone Ask Facebook to Disclose Extent of Chinese Deals

Facebook should have informed Congress of its data-sharing partnerships with Chinese tech companies when CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified (see 1804100054 and 1804110065) in April, House Commerce Committee leadership said Wednesday. “We strongly encourage full transparency from Facebook and the entire tech community,” said Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., noting the committee is waiting for Facebook responses to written questions from April’s hearing. Facebook didn't comment. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., Wednesday called for a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the Facebook allegations. Citing reporting from The New York Times, Markey raised concerns about Facebook’s relationship with Huawei, “a telecommunications company with close ties to the Chinese Communist Party” that U.S. intelligence identified as a potential security risk. “Although Facebook officials stated that ‘all the information from these integrations with Huawei was stored on the device, not on Huawei’s servers,’ I have serious concerns about the foreign policy implications of American companies providing such information to Chinese companies,” Markey wrote to Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and ranking member Bob Menendez, D-N.J.