Facebook pressed by US lawmakers on disabling NYU research accounts

U.S. lawmakers pressed Facebook Inc on Monday on why it disabled the accounts of researchers studying political ads on the social media platform, saying it was “imperative” that experts be allowed to look into “harmful activity … proliferating on its platforms.”

Facebook said on Tuesday it had cut off the personal accounts and access of a group of New York University researchers, citing concerns about other users’ privacy.

Senators Amy Klobuchar, Mark Warner and Chris Coons pressed Facebook in a letter to Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg to answer a series of questions. These include how many researchers or journalists have had their accounts disabled this year, why, and how was Facebook changing its terms of service to better accommodate research.