Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Testifies before US Congress

Finally Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg had to face more than one-hour of grilling by US Senators. Zuckerberg has accepted the fault on the part of Facebook and has apologized time and again and promised before the congress to work on the privacy policy of the company. At the same time he also tried to defend his company against the new legislation, which the US Congress is trying to impose on the world’s largest social networking company.

The senators repeatedly challenged his explanations in the joint session by two Senate panels, Commerce and Judiciary committee with 42 Senators throwing questions on the lone, founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg.

He before the congress with how he started Facebook 14 years ago as a start up in his Harvard room and explained through its journey to become the world largest social networking company. He also said how the company has time to time changed its privacy policies in order to prove that the company is growing by learning from the mistakes.

Mark Zuckerberg took responsibility for all that has gone wrong in the past few days. He apologized before the congress saying, “We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake. And it was my mistake, and I’m sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here.” He also said that, “One of my top priorities in 2018 is getting this right.”

But Senators doesn’t seem to give him a chance, seeking answer how he and his company can play with the millions of people by sharing there data with a third party only for the money.

The senators also said if he cannot set the privacy policy of Facebook then the committee can set its policy. Sen. Bill Nelson (Fla.), the highest-ranking Democrat on the Commerce Committee said,  “If Facebook and other online companies will not or cannot fix these privacy invasions, then we will”.

Mark Zuckerberg tried to keep his composure while replying each and every question that are being thrown at him, as it is the time of crisis which not just Facebook but whole of Silicon Valley in general is facing. As to maintain their business, data collection from people is a must. Otherwise they won’t be able to generate revenue, which mostly comes from ad on the social media platforms to maintain their business.

The exchanges of question and answer between the 33 year old billionaire and lawmakers went tense, quite often. But Zuckerberg maintained and tried to reply all the questions thrown at him accepting responsibility.

 

The recent controversies involving the social media sites, Facebook and YouTube have no doubt generated a different level of views amongst the lawmakers. They have acknowledged the power of social media, which often twist public discourse, disturbing the functioning of democracies. That’s why many lawmakers from both Democrats and Republican parties have sought for a new legation with strict regulation and fines.