By WSJ City

Facebook's Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said that the company failed to anticipate foreign interference aimed at disrupting the 2016 US presidential election. She spoke onstage during a question-and-answer session at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

KEY FACTS

--- She said Facebook is calling for some regulation of the company.

--- This echoed an op-ed by Mark Zuckerberg published earlier this year.

--- On antitrust action, she said Facebook users already have a variety of alternatives for social networking.

--- She also said Facebook wasn't ready to combat the spread of misinformation before the 2016 election...

--- ...But it has now created a verification programme with third-party fact-checkers.

--- And it has ramped up engagement with governments to prevent election interference.

"We are very much trying to usher in the next era. We are very much working with governments to write the right rules."

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg

Why This Matters

Sandberg's appearance comes amid increasing scrutiny of big tech companies by government regulators. Facebook is being scrutinised by investigators at the US FTC and the Justice Department is preparing an antitrust investigation of Google.

A fuller story is available on WSJ.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 20, 2019 04:14 ET (08:14 GMT)

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