REPORT: Zuckerberg Agrees to Testify Before Congress
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify before Congress amid a public firestorm over a massive Facebook data leak, according to multiple published reports.
A USA Today report said most of the details remain up in the air, including which committees Zuckerberg will testify before.
Zuckerberg’s appearance could come within a few weeks, CNN reported Tuesday.
Facebook has been in the global hot seat ever since it was learned that Cambridge Analytica accessed about 50 million Facebook users’ information without their knowledge.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa has already invited Zuckerberg to appear at an April 10 hearing on data privacy. Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey have also been asked by Grassley to attend.
Bloomberg reported that Zuckerberg will testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on April 12. However, another report put that in question.
“Reports of Mr. Zuckerberg’s confirmed attendance are incorrect,” said committee spokesperson Elena Hernandez, according to CNBC. “The committee is continuing to work with Facebook to determine a day and time for Mr. Zuckerberg to testify.”
The Senate Commerce Committee also wants to hear from Zuckerberg.
Even as Zuckerberg appeared to give the green light to talking to Congress, he has ruled out a request from British lawmakers to appear before them. Facebook announced that it would send two other officials to talk with British officials.
“Facebook fully recognizes the level of public and parliamentary interest in these issues, and supports your belief that these issues must be addressed at the most senior levels of the company by those in an authoritative position to answer your questions,” read the letter from the social media giant to Parliament, according to The U.K. Independent. “As such Mr. Zuckerberg has personally asked one of his deputies to make themselves available to give evidence to the Committee.”
That did not set well with Damian Collins, a member of Parliament leading the investigation into Facebook’s privacy practices.
“I think, given the extraordinary evidence we’ve heard so far today, it is absolutely astonishing that Mark Zuckerberg is not prepared to submit himself to questioning in front of a parliamentary or congressional hearing, given these are questions of fundamental importance and concern to his users, as well as to this inquiry,” he said, according to The U.K Guardian.
“I would certainly urge him to think again if he has any care for people that use his company’s services,” Collins said.
On Monday, the Federal Trade Commission said it had begun a probe into whether Facebook’s actions broke the terms of a consent decree Facebook signed with the FTC in 2011.
Zuckerberg had said last week that he would testify if it made sense for him to do so.
“What we try to do is send the person at Facebook who will have the most knowledge,” Zuckerberg said. “If that’s me, then I am happy to go.”
“What I think we’ve found so far is that typically there are people whose whole job is focused on an area, but I would imagine at some point that there would be a topic where I am the sole authority on and that would make sense for me to do and I’ll be happy to do it at that point,” he added.
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