Facebook hearings prove U.S. Congress knows jack-shit about Facebook

by Ben Reilly Sat Apr 14, 2018 10:28 pm

This report is on bringing back the Office of Technology Assessment, which helps Congress members from making fools of themselves:

Several members of Congress seemed to misunderstand even basic parts of how Facebook works. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, asked Zuckerberg how a free service earned money. The answer is advertisements.

Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, asked if Facebook could see emails he sends on WhatsApp, a messaging app Facebook owns. WhatsApp does not use emails and is encrypted, meaning the information can’t be accessed by outside parties.

Republicans in the past accused OTA of partisan bias over certain reports. It was defunded when Republicans controlled Congress, but some notable GOP lawmakers supported bringing it back before the Facebook debacle, including Hatch, and Reps. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, and Lamar Smith, R-Texas.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article208843729.html#cardLink=tallRow2_card1

by veya_victaous Mon Apr 16, 2018 12:34 am

yep, this is why representative democracy sucks.

how are these fools meant to make meaningful decisions regarding regulation, privacy and consumer rights etc in a digital age Rolling Eyes