Facebook Denies Lobbying on CISA After Fight for the Future's Accusation
Facebook has “not advocated publicly or privately for” the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (S-754), a spokesman said Monday. Leading S-754 opponent Fight for the Future claimed in a blog post Saturday that Facebook lobbyists are secretly lobbying in favor of…
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S-754 “even though Facebook has been lauded as opposing the bill” due to its membership in the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), which recently opposed S-754 (see 1510150038). The Senate is to take a final vote Tuesday on S-754 and on a series of amendments to the bill after voting 83-14 Thursday to end debate on a manager's amendment (see 1510220062). The Senate's consideration of S-754 had earlier stalled amid concerns from Fight for the Future and other entities about the bill's effect on privacy and civil liberties, but consolidation of several proposed amendments into the manager's amendment appeared to pave the way for progress on the bill. The White House and Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson have since repeated their earlier support for S-754. Facebook “has declined to take a public position on CISA, but in recent days sources have confirmed that in fact Facebook is quietly lobbying the Senate to pass it, Fight for the Future said. The group has launched a petition to force Facebook to “take a public position” on S-754. “If Facebook wants to reclaim their credibility on user privacy, they need to take a stand against CISA,” said Fight for the Future Co-director Tiffiniy Cheng in the blog post. A Facebook spokesman didn't comment on what Facebook's position on S-754 is. Facebook's Q3 lobbying report indicates the company lobbied the White House and Capitol Hill on general cybersecurity issues, but unlike on other topics it doesn't detail any specific legislation. Harbinger Strategies, Peck Madigan, Subject Matter and Stewart Strategies & Solutions all indicated they lobbied on cybersecurity issues for Facebook during the quarter.