Facebook CEO has finally appeared before Senate, testifying before the Senate committees on commerce and judiciary. Zuckerberg was invited by the Senate because of the Cambridge Analytica scandal in which 87 million users data was allegedly stolen from the Facebook platform. Zuckerberg initially declined the invite, but later accepted to appear.
Senator Thune (R-South Dakota) opened the hearing: “You have an obligation that your [American] dream doesn’t become a nightmare for Facebook users,” he said to Zuckerberg, referencing the company’s recent mishaps, including the Cambridge Analytica (CA) scandal.
Mark Zuckerberg responded: “We didn’t take a broad enough view, it was my mistake and I’m sorry. I’m responsible for what happens here.” He went on to say that while it will take “some time” to fix all of these issues, he’s “committed to doing this right.”
Senator Feinstein (D-California) complained of Facebook’s lack of transparency after it took a whole 2 years to disclose the breach of trust from Cambridge Analytica.
Other Senators asked him questions on wide range of issues including operations, advertising etc.
Senator Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) questioned Zuckerberg about whether he would support a rule to notify users of a data breach within 72 hours, which the Facebook CEO said he wouldn’t be opposed to. That’s something similar to what the European Union is doing with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which goes into effect on May 25th. Zuckerberg said he believes GDPR gets “certain things right” and if the right regulation comes up in the US, he would fully support it. “I am not sure we shouldn’t be regulated,” Zuckerberg said. “If it’s the right regulation, we’ll welcome it. I think that’s a discussion that needs to happen.”
The hearing continues today at 10 a.m ET.
