Democratic Senators Ask Facebook to End Crypto Plans

Facebook should abandon revived plans to launch a digital currency (see 1910220059), Democrats wrote CEO Mark Zuckerberg Tuesday. Sens. Brian Schatz, Hawaii; Sherrod Brown, Ohio; Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut; Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts; and Tina Smith, Minnesota, signed. Citing the recent controversy over internal research about teen mental health (see 2110050062), they asked Zuckerberg to abandon plans for its pilot digital wallet Novi, announced Tuesday, and to agree not to bring its digital currency Diem to the market. “Facebook cannot be trusted to manage a payment system or digital currency when its existing ability to manage risks and keep consumers safe has proven wholly insufficient,” they wrote. A Novi spokesperson said the company looks forward to responding to the letter.