Booker tells Zuckerberg to stop Facebook ads from discriminating against minorities

WASHINGTON -- As Newark mayor, Cory Booker famously joined Gov. Chris Christie and Mark Zuckerberg on Oprah Winfrey's show to accept $100 million from the Facebook founder for his city's public schools.

As a U.S. senator, Booker had other things on his mind when he questioned Zuckerberg Tuesday at a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees.

Booker did not acknowledge their earlier meeting when he asked Zuckerberg about the fact that Facebook users still can use the site to run ads about housing, credit or jobs that exclude groups in violation of federal law.

"This country has a very bad history of discriminatory practices toward low income Americans and Americans of color," Booker said. "We've seen how technology platforms Facebook can actually be used to double down on discrimination."

Facebook earlier had agreed to end that, but has failed to do so, and Zuckerberg agreed more action was needed on his company's part.

"Over time, we're going to move toward more proactive review," Zuckerberg said. "In this specific case, I'm not happy with where we are. It make sense to really focus on making sure these areas get more review."

Booker responded by talking about "a growing sense of distrust" among members of the civil rights community because of the lack of diversity in the technology industry. The concern is that the people overseeing these posts are not going to be members of the communities most hurt by them.

Zuckerberg responded positively to Booker's suggestion that members of civil rights groups be allowed to audit the companies posting such ads to ensure they do not discriminate.

"That's a very good idea and I think we should follow up on the details of that," Zuckerberg said.

Zuckerberg also agreed with Booker's concern about law enforcement officials using Facebook to monitor civil rights organizations, such as Black Lives Matter.

"In general, unless law enforcement has a very clear subpoena or reason to get access to information, we're going to push back at that across the board," he said.

Zuckerberg is scheduled to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday. He is appearing before Congress following reports that users' privacy had been compromised and Russian sources, hiding behind false identities, were able to use the site to post fake news reports to help elect Donald Trump.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

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