After NYTimes Report: Facebook In Turmoil

Facebook is being hit with fresh criticism from Capitol Hill as lawmakers reacted harshly Thursday to a New York Times investigation that detailed the company's efforts to wield influence in Washington after becoming aware of Russia-linked activity on its platform during the 2016 presidential campaign.

According to The Hill, the explosive article laid out how Facebook's leadership was reluctant to confront the Russian efforts on its platform and was unprepared for the firestorm over the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

On Thursday, a group of Senate Democrats -- Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Chris Coons (Del.) and Mazie Hirono (Hawaii) -- wrote to the Justice Department, asking them to "expand any investigation into Facebook and Cambridge Analytica to include whether Facebook – or any other entity affiliated with or hired by Facebook – retaliated against critics or public officials seeking to regulate the platform, or hid vital information from the public."

The Times story is likely to fuel some members' calls to regulate Facebook and other platforms, as many Democrats have become furious over the string of data privacy breaches and what they see as a lack of accountability in the industry.

The tech giant is also facing allegations of anti-Semitism after the Times reported that the company used a Republican opposition research firm called Definers Public Affairs to accuse liberal financier George Soros of funding some of the groups that were speaking out against Facebook as it faced public scrutiny over its handling of both the Russian disinformation campaigns and the Cambridge Analytica debacle.