Facebook sues Israeli firm over alleged WhatsApp hack

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is urging Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to reverse course on the company’s recently announced policy not to fact-check advertisements purchased by politicians.

Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, sent a letter to Zuckerberg on Monday night questioning the shift in policy at Facebook in regards to political advertisements, with ads bought by politicians not subject to the same third-party fact-checking as other advertisements on the platform.

“Facebook’s apparent lack of foresight or concern for the possible damages caused by this policy concerns me,” wrote Warner.

Warner cited concerns that around 68 percent of Americans use Facebook and interact with the platform more than they do with traditional news sources such as television, but that the social media giant is not subject to the same strict rules around political advertising that TV, radio and broadcast organizations are.

“In making strides not to continue contributing to the coarsening of our political debate, and the undermining of our public institutions, at a minimum, Facebook should at least adhere to the same norms of other traditional media companies when it comes to political advertising,” he wrote.