NY official to Facebook, Google: Fight fake news and abuse

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- New York's top financial official is warning Facebook, Google and Twitter that they must do more to protect users from fake news, sexual harassment and abuse on their social media platforms.

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli called on the companies to publicly report on what steps they're taking to address the problems. He said that if the companies don't act swiftly, they're putting themselves at risk of lawsuits, financial losses and reputational damage.

DiNapoli, who oversees New York state's nearly $207 billion public pension system, said the pension fund will vote against the re-election of several board members for Twitter, Facebook and Google's parent company Alphabet, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

The pension fund has $1.1 billion in Facebook shares, $44 million worth of shares in Twitter, and $1.8 billion in Alphabet shares.