Facebook’s chief security officer is leaving the company due to disagreements as to how the media giant should handle Russian disinformation spread through its platform, according to a Monday report.
Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos initially planned to leave December 2017 after most of his duties were assigned to others, but the company was able to convince him to stay until August, former and current employees told The New York Times.
Stamos urged Facebook to investigate how Russian propaganda is spread on the network and to alert users to the issues, while Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg has not been pleased with his proposal, according to former and current employees.
Stamos, who marks the first top executive to leave Facebook over the Russia issues, is currently helping his team transition to the product and infrastructure divisions within Facebook, the employees added.
Stamos released a statement addressing the reports Monday night.
Despite the rumors, I’m still fully engaged with my work at Facebook. It’s true that my role did change. I’m currently spending more time exploring emerging security risks and working on election security.
— Alex Stamos (@alexstamos) March 19, 2018
Facebook has come under fire from Congress and other politicians for the Russian disinformation reportedly spread on the social media giant. Russian influence reached 126 million people via its platform, Facebook said in a report.
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