Indiana Senator Questions Facebook Founder On Privacy Protections

Senator Todd Young called on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to implement stronger protections for Facebook users and their online privacy.

(Washington) - Indiana Senator Todd Young was on the panel grilling Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

The Republican senator urged the founder of the world’s foremost social network to take a closer look at the website’s user agreement.

“Be sure that user agreement is easy to understand, streamlined, and so-forth,” Young said.

Young asked Zuckerberg if he thinks there could be “a comprehensive privacy policy that applies in the same manner to all entities across the entire internet ecosystem.”

Young said consumers all over the internet are certainly less protected than they should be today.

In the first of two hearings this week, Zuckerberg apologized for Facebook's missteps.  He took full responsibility for the vast misuse of Facebook user data and the spread of phony news and propaganda.  

The CEO said his company has launched a full investigation into tens of thousands of apps with an eye on protecting user data. He vowed that bad actors will be banned from Facebook.

Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelson warned that privacy rights in the U.S. are at great risk. South Dakota Republican Senator John Thune said the massive misuse of user data should be a wakeup call to the entire tech community. 

Meantime, Zuckerberg talked about Russia's ongoing efforts to meddle in U.S. elections and called it an "arms race."  He said Facebook is working aggressively to prepare for November's midterm elections.  

Zuckerberg acknowledged that he should have taken warnings about misinformation and propaganda more seriously in the 2016 presidential election.