Google’s Eric Schmidt, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and other top tech executives huddled Friday with President Barack Obama to discuss surveillance, just days after Zuckerberg slammed the White House for working too slowly on NSA reform.
The executives — including Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and the leaders of Dropbox, Box and Palantir — joined Obama and his top cabinet officials for a discussion that stressed the administration’s “commitment to taking steps that can give people greater confidence that their rights are being protected while preserving important tools that keep us safe,” according to the White House.
The meeting marked the second time in about four months that the White House has invited major technology CEOs to Washington to talk about the issue. But this session was prompted in part by Zuckerberg’s recent, public rebuke of the administration, multiple sources said. The Facebook CEO in a post last week revealed he had called Obama to express “frustration over the damage the government” has caused the industry, Politico informs.
