Days after Senate Intelligence Committee members supported greater oversight of social media and Attorney General Jeff Sessions suggested some firms were stifling free speech, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg pledged more transparency about security improvements that have been critiqued by Republicans and Democrats alike.
Facebook and Twitter are facing intense congressional pressure to amp up user protections following the 2016 elections, in which the U.S. government said Russian intelligence used the platforms to generate support for President Trump’s campaign. Their efforts have led to claims that security measures are biased against conservative speech, including posts by pro-Trump commentators Diamond and Silk, also known as Lynette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson.
Both companies have suspended or terminated accounts for politically-motivated activity linked to Iran and Russia, and their executives explained to Intelligence Committee members this week the steps they were taking to block disinformation campaigns. Such disclosures will become more regular, Zuckerberg said Friday.
“The most important effort – rebuilding all of our content enforcement systems to proactively find harmful content rather than wait for people to flag issues – is at least a three-year project,” he wrote in a post. “The good news is we started this in 2017, so even though this work will extend through 2019, I do expect us to end this year on a significantly better trajectory than when we entered it.”
Among the most challenging aspects of the endeavor is balancing the company’s values with the necessary steps to improve security, he wrote.
“Giving people a voice is at the heart of our mission. But we also have a responsibility to keep people safe,” he wrote. “Encryption increases privacy and security for individuals but makes it more difficult to fight misinformation and hate at scale. Requiring verification for ads and pages makes election interference more difficult, but it also creates roadblocks for dissidents and smaller, less well-funded groups engaging in those debates.”
One hurdle not addressed by Zuckerberg is the difficulty Facebook could have in keeping investors confident in the company’s performance as it goes through a period of radical change. The social media giant’s stock dropped nearly 20 percent after a disappointing earnings call, during which Zuckerberg outlined lower-than-expected revenue and decreased user growth as Facebook seeks to bolster its security measures.
The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company’s stock was little changed on Friday, trading at $162.55 in New York.
Facebook declined to comment earlier this week on Sessions’ plan to meet with state attorneys general to discuss concerns that social media firms are “hurting competition and intentionally stifling the free exchange of ideas.”
