Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg Meeting with U.S. Lawmakers About Russian Ads

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg will meet with U.S. lawmakers in Washington Thursday to discuss a number of issues surrounding Facebook and the 2016 presidential election.

Recode reports that Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg, will be meeting with U.S. lawmakers in Washington as the company attempts to deal with the fallout from the recent revelation that Russian-linked sources purchased approximately $100,000 worth of political ads on Facebook during the 2016 presidential election. Sandberg’s visit to Washington comes just a short time before Facebook prepares to join other tech companies in testifying on Russia and their possible influence on the 2016 election at two public congressional hearings in November.

Sandberg will reportedly be meeting with both Republican and Democrat lawmakers, speaking privately with Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Greg Walden, who currently chairs a committee overseeing tech companies such as Facebook and Twitter. The Facebook COO will also reportedly be meeting with Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Anna Eshoo, a Democratic lawmaker who currently represents certain parts of Silicon Valley.

Sandberg also plans to meet with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, according to Recode, which has accused Facebook of lacking diversity due to the large number of white males working at the Silicon Valley firm. The Congressional Black Caucus put further pressure on Facebook when it was revealed that some of the Russian-linked advertisements on their platform related to groups such as Black Lives Matter. This led to Reps. Robin Kelly, Bonnie Watson Coleman, and Emanuel Cleaver writing to Facebook to request that they turn over copies of the ads.

CBC Chairman Rep. Cedric Richmond said that while the Russian-linked advertisements may not have had a significant influence on the 2016 election, they could have caused “harm and additional resentment to young people who unselfishly fight for justice and equality for African Americans and other marginalized communities.”

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan_ or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com.