Franken Blasts Facebook, Election Meddling In First Speech Since Resignation

CHICAGO (CBS) -- In his first major public speech since resigning from the U.S. Senate, Al Franken returned to the spotlight to deliver a blistering rebuke of tech companies, specifically Facebook, over abuse of users privacy data while speaking at a cybersecurity conference in Lisbon, Portugal.

During his speech, Franken suggested Facebook was careless with users' information following the revelation that political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica obtained data on as many as 87 million users.

"Facebook doesn't have to care about the privacy and security of their users' online information because there's no mass exodus when it violates those rules," said Franken. He said the tech giant took so long to address the issues and ultimately didn't do enough to prevent data harvesting "because they knew they could get away with it."

While Franken focused mostly on user privacy, he also touched on the current political climate and future of democracy.

Al Franken Speaks for First Time Since Leaving Senate at Privacy XChange Forum 2018 by CyberScout on YouTube

"If we can't have a political discourse where we agree on basic, objective facts, then our democratic government will continue to be polarized and paralyzed," he said.

When discussing the impact of Russian interference on the U.S. election system, Franken, a well-known satirist, delivered a sarcastic response to the current state of the the democratic process.

"I think it's completely secure and we have nothing to worry about," he joked. He quickly amended his response, saying "I think it isn't secure and I worry about that a lot."

As for the potential for bad actors, namely Russia, carrying out similar attacks against future elections, Franken said "They'll be back. They never left."

Franken made the speech just four months after leaving the senate amid sexual misconduct allegations. Franken called his tenure in the senate "a privilege and an honor." Democratic Sen. Tina Smith has since taken over Franken's seat.

Read more
f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.