Thanks, Rob.
We recognize that the situation involving Cambridge Analytica raises more general questions on the use of Facebook and the integrity of elections. I would like to conclude with some comments on the subject, because we are working hard to do our part to protect the integrity of the federal elections in 2019. We know that your leaders and your political parties continue to use Facebook as a key platform for citizen involvement. So it is important that the matter be taken seriously.
As you may know, the Communications Security Establishment published last year a report outlining various cyber-threats to the next federal election and identified two areas Facebook sees a role in addressing: cybersecurity, the hacking into the online accounts of candidates and political parties; and the spreading of misinformation online. In response, we launched, last fall, our Canadian election integrity initiative, which consists of five elements.
First, to address cybersecurity, we launched the Facebook “Cyber Hygiene Guide”, created specifically for Canadian politicians and political parties. It provides key information on how everyone who is administering a political figure or party's Facebook presence can help keep their accounts and pages secure. I have brought copies of the guide with me, Mr. Chair, and with your permission, later I will circulate them to members.
Second, we are offering cyber-hygiene training to all the federal political parties.
Third, we launched our cyber-threats email line for federal politicians and political parties. This email line is a direct pipe into our security team at Facebook and will help fast-track responses for compromised pages or accounts.
To address misinformation online, we've partnered with MediaSmarts, Canada's Centre for Digital and Media Literacy, on a two-year project to develop thinking, resources, and public service announcements on how to spot misinformation online. This new initiative, which we are calling “Reality Check”, will include lesson plans, interactive online missions, videos, and guides that will provide the idea that verifying information is an essential life and citizenship skill.
We also launched our ads transparency test, called “View Ads”, here in Canada last November. This test, which is ongoing, allows anyone in Canada to view any and all Facebook ads, including ads for which you were not the intended audience. All advertisers on Facebook are subject to “View Ads”, but we recognize that it is an important part of our civic engagement efforts. Candidates running for office and organizations engaged in political advertising should be held accountable for what they say to citizens, and this feature gives people the chance to see all the things a candidate or organization is saying to everyone. This is a higher level of ad transparency than currently exists for any type of advertising, online or offline.
As we answer your questions, Rob and I hope that we can tell you more about our efforts to protect personal information and the integrity of elections. We recognize that, in the past, we have been too idealistic about the use of our technologies and we have not concentrated sufficiently on preventing abuse on our platform. We are in the process of making major changes in the operation of our company in order to improve our approach in that regard.
Thank you again for the opportunity to appear before you today, and we would now be pleased to answer your questions.