ACLU Comment on Mark Zuckerberg Senate Testimony

WASHINGTON — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before a joint session of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees today.

Neema Singh Guliani, ACLU legislative counsel, had the following reaction:

“Contrary to what Zuckerberg repeatedly said, Facebook users do not have full control over all of their information. It’s time to make sure that Facebook and other companies give users real transparency and full control. But, Congress should not wait for Facebook to act. Members should enact comprehensive privacy legislation to ensure that consumer rights are protected.

“Facebook must also do more to combat discriminatory advertising on the platform. They should turn off ad targeting based on proxies for protected categories, such as gender or disability, in the housing, credit, and employment context. They must also take proactive steps, including auditing and facilitating independent research, to assess and protect against ad discrimination outside of these contexts.”