Facebook’s Zuckerberg Woos Washington Critics Amid Scrutiny

(Bloomberg) — Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg is defending his company’s practices to some of his harshest critics in Washington over their concerns that he isn’t taking strong enough action to prevent voter manipulation on the platform ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

“Mr. Zuckerberg acknowledged that self-regulation is not going to cut it,” Senator Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee said Thursday on Bloomberg Television. “I think he realizes that the status quo and the days of the wild, wild West are over.”

Warner, a Virginia Democrat, and Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, dined Wednesday evening with Zuckerberg in Washington along with other lawmakers.

Warner helped organize the dinner with lawmakers at Facebook’s request, according to Rachel Cohen, a Warner spokeswoman. They discussed a wide range of issues “including the role and responsibility of social media platforms in protecting our democracy, and what steps Congress should take to defend our elections, protect consumer data, and encourage competition in the social media space,” Cohen said in a statement.

Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who recently proposed limiting a liability exemption for tech companies, was scheduled to meet with Zuckerberg Thursday afternoon.

“I’ve been pretty vocal, it’s fair to say, in my concerns about Facebook,” Hawley said. “I look forward to hearing what he has to say, he asked for the meeting.”

Zuckerberg’s visit to the nation’s capital comes as Facebook battles criticism from lawmakers over its handling of users’ personal information, the proliferation of violent content and election interference by foreign operatives. In response to the growing scrutiny, Zuckerberg has called for the passage of baseline regulations governing harmful content online.

Democratic lawmakers have attacked Facebook’s handling of political content, including the way foreign operators have used the platform to sow discord in American public life. A report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller described how a Russian entity “carried out a social media campaign that favored presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and disparaged presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.”

Blumenthal said in a statement that he also had a “serious conversation” with Zuckerberg at the dinner, which took place at Ris, an upscale American bistro, about the “challenges of privacy” facing Facebook, which has been ensnared in controversy over the way it has shared users’ information with third parties.

“It’s no secret that I’ve been a tough critic of Facebook, so I was glad for the opportunity to discuss my concerns directly with Mr. Zuckerberg,” he said.

Zuckerberg also met with Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington state, in her office Wednesday evening and discussed election security and data privacy, including California’s privacy bill going into effect in January, according to a person familiar with the matter. Cantwell is the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, which is weighing privacy legislation.

Zuckerberg is also scheduled to meet with House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff of California on Friday, said another person familiar with the matter.

“One of the most pressing issues for me is the threat posed by deepfake technology and it’s potential misuse during the presidential campaign,” Schiff said in an interview with Bloomberg Government.

Senator Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican, was unable to meet with Zuckerberg due to Moran’s travels plans, but plans to meet with the CEO next time he is in Washington, a senior Senate aide said.

Zuckerberg isn’t meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to a person familiar with the matter. Democrats castigated the company earlier this year after it failed to remove a doctored video of Pelosi. She has snubbed at least two meetings with him, Bloomberg has reported. He also isn’t meeting several high-profile Republicans who are working on a federal privacy bill, including Senator Roger Wicker. Marsha Blackburn said he’d reached out to her but her travel schedule didn’t allow a meeting.

Zuckerberg doesn’t appear to be meeting with government officials conducting inquiries. The Federal Trade Commission has opened an antitrust probe of the company, and New York is leading a coalition of states in a wide-ranging investigation of the social media giant. In July, Facebook agreed to pay $5 billion to settle FTC allegations it violated users’ privacy.