HousingandUrbanDevelopmentfiledcivil
chargesagainstFacebook,accusingit of
allowinglandlordsandrealestatebrokers
toexcludecertainracialorethnicgroups
fromseeingadsforhousesandapartments.
Facebookcouldfacepenalties.
Thecompanyhasseparatelyagreedto
overhaulitsadtargetingsystemandendsome
ofthepracticesnotedbyHUDtoprevent
discriminationinhousinglistingsaswellas
creditandemploymentads.Thatmovewas
partofa settlementwiththeAmericanCivil
LibertiesUnionandotheractivists.
Besidescraftinga bipartisandata-privacy
measureinCongress,lawmakersare
consideringrestoringObama-erarulesthat
formerlybarredinternetproviders—likeAT&T,
VerizonandComcast—fromdiscriminating
againstcertaintechnologiesandservices.
Sen.RonWyden,D-Ore.,hasproposedfines
andjailtimeforexecutivesofcompaniesguilty
ofdatabreaches.
TheU.S.ChamberofCommerceandthe
BusinessRoundtable,representingCEOsof
majorcompanies,havepresentedtheirown
proposalstocurbprivacyabuses. Atthesame
time,PresidentDonaldTrumphasechoed
complaintsfromsomeconservativelawmakers
andcommentatorsthatthebigtechplatforms
arepoliticallytiltedagainstthem.
“Facebook,TwitterandGooglearesobiased
towardtheDemsit is ridiculous!”hehas
tweeted.Andhetolda rallycrowd,“We’renot
goingtoletthem controlwhatwecanand
cannotsee,readandlearnfrom.”
Image: Win McNamee