Sheryl Sandberg uses Facebook's woes as lesson for MIT grads

Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg says MIT's graduating class should use technology as a "force for good" but warned that others might use it for harm.

Sandberg, the company's chief operating officer, used Facebook's missteps as a lesson in accountability in her commencement speech Friday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

She says Facebook's leaders "didn't see all the risks coming" and "didn't do enough to stop them." Her lesson for students is to "own" their mistakes to prevent future ones.

The social-media giant has been under intense scrutiny in the wake of a privacy scandal involving a data mining firm. Sandberg did not elaborate on Facebook's missteps in her speech.

Still, Sandberg says she's proud that Facebook has helped people "organize for democracy" and urged students to be "clear-eyed optimists."