Meddling by Russia, Facebook’s response angers black lawmakers

WASHINGTON — For more than an hour, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s highprofile chief operating officer, sheepishly pledged to “do better” — over and over — as stern-faced members of the Congressional Black Caucus grilled her Thursday about Russian ads aimed at exploiting racial divisions during last year’s election.

For black lawmakers, it was a chance to vent — at the outrage they felt toward Russian intelligence and its efforts to foment racial unrest in the country; at the frustration they felt toward three separate congressional investigations into Russian interference that have plodded on and yielded little; and at Facebook itself, which has been long on promises and short on action.

“She was checking the boxes. She said all the right things,” Rep. Donald M. Payne Jr., D-N.J., said of Sandberg. But he was not satisfied. “I had an uncle who hated when you said ‘gonna’: ‘I’m gonna do this, and I’m gonna do that.’ He used to say, ‘Don’t be a gonna.’ And that’s what I said to her, ‘Don’t be a gonna.’ ”

Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, after initially denying that Russians had exploited the company’s system, has reversed course and admitted that groups backed by President Vladimir Putin of Russia paid Facebook to influence voters last year with ads designed to inflame and exploit racial, political and economic rifts in the United States. Russian-backed Facebook pages promoted anti-immigrant rallies, targeted the Black Lives Matter movement and focused attentions on critical election swing states like Wisconsin and Michigan.

While Facebook has yet to release any of the ads, it has hired three crisis communications firms, bought digital and newspaper ads and sent Sandberg to Washington last week to charm Congress and the public.

But the grievance of black lawmakers is a particular one: As black activists tried last year to focus attention on police brutality, unfair treatment before the law, inequality and white supremacy, social media giants like Facebook were being commandeered by Russian intelligence agents to turn white voters against them.

For Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., the moment recalled the 1970s, when another government, this one in Washington, not Moscow, targeted black activists. She served as a community worker for the Black Panther Party as the FBI used false information to go after its members.

“That actually got people killed and destroyed organizations,” Lee said. “Now look at Facebook allowing ads by the Russian government to create this kind of environment. That’s a problem. I don’t know if they’re even aware of the history and how dangerous allowing the promotion of division and racial animosity and racial hatred can be.”

And nearly a year after the election, black lawmakers say, little is being done to reverse the damage. Russia studied and exploited the “fault lines of racial tension,” said Rep. Yvette D. Clarke, D-N.Y., and multiple investigations into Russia’s actions and the Trump campaign’s possible involvement have thus far offered no safeguards to stop Moscow’s efforts.

“Things are moving far too slow because we should be putting protective measures in place,” Clarke said. “We need to step up to the challenge.”

During the meeting, Sandberg frequently said she agreed as more than a dozen members of the Congressional Black Caucus demanded action from the company. Several people in the meeting said Sandberg frequently said, “We will do better” and “You will get answers.”

But her answers fueled the anger of some black lawmakers who said they have been pushing Facebook for years to add a black person to its all-white board of directors and to diversify its staff. Several members have also written to Facebook and other companies demanding answers related to the election.

On Thursday, the company’s chief diversity officer, Maxine Williams, said in the meeting that Facebook had recently hired a record number of minority employees, and Sandberg promised that the company planned to add a black person to its board.

At least some members of the caucus have started thinking about what ways Congress may have to step in and shield Americans from Russia’s influence.

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., said lawmakers may need to come up with new ways to combat false information. That might mean Facebook would face new regulations.

“Our concerns will not get ignored,” Watson Coleman said. “It’s either you clean up your act, or government will have to act in that space.”