Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg To U.S. Congress: It Was My Mistake, And I'm Sorry

Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg presented a contrite and rehearsed face to the bipartisan committee of U.S. Congress lawmakers who grilled him for over five hours over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Zuckerberg formally apologized to Congress on Tuesday for mistakes that led to Cambridge Analytica gaining data of the social media’s users – the number now stands corrected from 80 million to 127 million users. He also stressed that his company is rethinking its responsibility to users and society.

"It was my mistake, and I'm sorry," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said in the joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees, at the Capitol Hill here.

Zuckerberg, while testifying said, "I started Facebook, I run it, and I'm responsible for what happens here." "It's clear now that we didn't do enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm as well. That goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections, and hate speech, as well as developers and data privacy. We didn't take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake. It was my mistake, and I'm sorry," Zuckerberg said.

During the five-hour hearing, he fielded questions on Facebook's data collection practices, the company's alleged monopoly power and his views on regulating internet companies.

Zuckerberg was questioned by 44 senators with each senator given five minutes of time. Some senators did not pull their punches and slammed Facebook for its complicated terms of service agreement. "Your user agreement sucks," said Kennedy, a Republican representing Louisiana. "It's not to inform your users about their rights. I'm going to suggest to you that you go back home and rewrite it."

Post the hearing, some lawmakers have said they are looking into creating regulation for social media data protection which has till date been the domain of the companies themselves.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal came out in the open when reports started pouring in March that the social networking site had compromised with the personal data of over 87 million Facebook users to Britain-based Cambridge Analytica - which allegedly influenced voters during the 2016 US Presidential elections.

The news of the data comprise also revealed how Russia was targeting Facebook users interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Zuckerberg has said that he regretted what happened two years ago. "This is one of my top priorities is to get this right. One of my greatest regrets is we were slow in identifying the Russian operations in 2016," Zuckerberg said in the joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees, at the Capitol Hill here.

His reply came in response to Senator Dianne Feinstein, who asked Zuckerberg what his company was doing to prevent foreign interference in US elections?

The 33-year-old billionaire, in the hearing, also said the Facebook users have full control over their ad experience and they can also turn off the sharing of the information with the third-party.

The hearing is taking place after reports started pouring in March that the social networking site had compromised with the personal data of over 87 million Facebook users to Britain-based Cambridge Analytica - which allegedly influenced voters during the 2016 US Presidential elections.

Zuckerberg had posted a message on his page on the social networking website just an hour before he headed into the joint committee hearing at the Capitol Hill in Washington, United States of America.

"In an hour I'm going to testify in front of the Senate about how Facebook needs to take a broader view of our responsibility -- not just to build tools, but to make sure those tools are used for good," Zuckerberg wrote. "I will do everything I can to make Facebook a place where everyone can stay closer with the people they care about, and to make sure it's a positive force in the world."

The data scandal has wiped away tens of billions of dollars from Facebook's market value, prompted political scrutiny in North America, Europe and even India and even raised the once unthinkable possibility of whether Zuckerberg should step down as CEO. (With Agency inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 11, 2018 07:28 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).