US Lawmakers Ask Justice Dept. To Probe Facebook Over Retaliation Against Critics

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th November, 2018) A group of US Democratic lawmakers in a letter to the Department of Justice demanded an investigation into whether Facebook retaliated against critics in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election.

"We write to urge that you expand any investigation into Facebook and Cambridge Analytica to include whether Facebook... retaliated against critics or public officials seeking to regulate the platform," the letter said on Thursday.

The Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are currently examining Facebook's failure to prevent the breach of users' information during the 2016 presidential race. The platform has also been under scrutiny for not taking appropriate steps to stop foreign governments from using Facebook for political purposes.

The letter, initiated by Senator Amy Klobuchar, said Facebook collected a significant amount of information on its users.

Therefore, the allegations that the social media company used services from an opposition research firm to go after its critics should cause great concerns.

Facebook has been recently involved in a number of scandals over privacy concerns and on suspicions of the spread of fake political news on the platform. In March 2018, the company was heavily criticized after it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica was able to access personal data of millions of users without their consent to target potential then-Republican candidate Donald Trump voters during the 2016 US presidential campaign. Facebook was also allegedly used by Russia to influence the presidential campaign via posting fake news on the platform.

Moscow repeatedly denied all allegations of having meddled with the election.