US House Democrats Grill Facebook CEO On Gun Ads During Capitol Incident - Letter

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th March, 2021) Democratic members of Congress on Monday sent a letter to Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg questioning why his social media platform ran advertisements to buy guns during the January 6 incident at the US Capitol.

"Twenty-three Energy and Commerce Committee Democrats wrote to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg ... demanding answers for Facebook's advertising practices which reports show promoted violence and disinformation both leading up to and after the violent insurrection at the US Capitol," the House Committee on Energy and Commerce said in a release on Monday.

In the letter, the lawmakers asked what steps Facebook planned to take to ensure that advertisements for weapons or other tactical military equipment were not targeted in a manner that jeopardized public safety, the release said.

"According to recent troubling reports, Facebook ran ads showing gun accessories and protective equipment next to content that amplified election misinformation. ... similar advertising was shown next to news about the Capitol siege after January 6. Targeting ads in this way is dangerous and has the potential to encourage acts of violence," the letter said as presented in the release.

The lawmakers also said more needed to be done, as the United States continued to face a threat from domestic extremists and so far there had been little indication of how Facebook was now addressing the targeting and placement of these types of advertisements, the release added.