House Committee Leaders Optimistic on Facebook Cooperation, After CEO Meetings

Several House committee leaders said Friday they're optimistic about Facebook's willingness to cooperate in the chamber's ongoing probes involving the top social media platform, after meetings with CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Those talking with Zuckerberg Friday included House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and House Judiciary Committee leaders. Zuckerberg met with President Donald Trump and several senators Thursday (see 1909190072). Zuckerberg continued to decline to talk to reporters Friday. House Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline, D-R.I., told reporters Zuckerberg “made a commitment to cooperate with” the House Judiciary Committee's probe of tech sector antitrust (see 1906110072). Cicilline had criticized Facebook, Google and Amazon executives for being unprepared or evasive in answering questions during a July House Antitrust hearing (see 1907230055). “I look forward to [Zuckerberg's] cooperation," Cicilline said. “I take him at his word.” House Judiciary's investigation will include “document requests, requests for information, participation in a number of different ways,” Cicilline said. House Judiciary ranking member Doug Collins, R-Ga., was also optimistic about Zuckerberg's willingness to help, after an earlier meeting that also included McCarthy and House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore. Zuckerberg was “appreciative” of some House Judiciary members' aim of gathering information instead of “coming at it from an angle of 'Here's what we have to solve,'” Collins said. “He wants to have his company be in business and do the things that they want to do, but he's also very sensitive to the notions of privacy and bias and other things that people have concerns about.” Schiff told reporters his meeting with Zuckerberg focused on election interference on Facebook. Zuckerberg “appreciates the gravity” of lawmakers' concerns about deep fakes, or false and misleading material like altered videos of politicians and others (see 1906130048), Schiff said. “I wanted to raise my profound concern about the issue of deepfake technology and how it might be used to disrupt” the 2020 presidential election. Facebook is “very aware of the threat that it poses,” Schiff said. “They are in the process of developing what I hope will be very strong policies on this.”