Official Website - Assemblymember Marc Levine Representing the 10th California Assembly District |

KCRA: California lawmakers consider online data regulation agency

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

KCRA

By Kevin Oliver

While Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was testifying before Congress in Washington D.C., California lawmakers are just days away from taking their first crack at the state's own regulations concerning data privacy on websites.

Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, said it is vital that California protect personal data.

"California has got this amazing opportunity as the home of Silicon Valley to protect our residents and how their information is used to help their online activities and how it is then marketed and sold to a third party to be used against against our activities online and to influence us," Levine said.

News

Vox: What the government could actually do about Facebook

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Vox

By Emily Stewart

The federal government is already investigating Facebook. The question now is how much further it will go to regulate it.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is testifying before Congress Tuesday and Wednesday in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal and revelations about the platform’s role in the dissemination of Russian disinformation during the 2016 presidential campaign to answer questions about Facebook’s past, current, and future actions.

News

San Jose Inside: Facebook Scandal Renews Call for Stronger Privacy Protections

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

San Jose Inside

By Kristin Lam

Sen. Dianne Feinstein gave Mark Zuckerberg a fiery ultimatum. Before a roomful of a few hundred Silicon Valley executives on Monday, the top Democrat on a Senate panel investigating Facebook’s massive privacy breach told the Facebook CEO to correct course or have the government do it for him.

“Fix it before it really breaks,” she said at a “fireside chat” in Sunnyvale with Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino.

“If you don’t control your platform, we’re going to have to do something about it,” she added. “I am hopeful that they will.”

News

Bloomberg Technology: California Would Require Twitter, Facebook to Disclose Bots

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Bloomberg Technology

By Selina Wang

California has proposed legislation that would require social platforms like Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. to identify automated accounts, or bots, amid a push by state lawmakers to police the technology companies that have proven vulnerable to manipulation and the spread of fake news.

News

Engadget: California bill would force Twitter and Facebook to identify bots

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Engadget

By David Lumb

Facebook and Twitter are plenty aware that Russian-backed actors have been using troll accounts to manipulate online discourse. Despite introducing transparency tools and purging lists of bots, California lawmakers don't think the companies are doing enough to safeguard consumers. Legislators proposed a bill that would force social media platforms to identify automated accounts and deal with them within three days.