Members of a House committee will be questioning Mark Zuckerberg on Capitol Hill today over Facebook’s mishandling of user data.
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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in front of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees on Tuesday (April 10) afternoon. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune started off the hearing saying that tech companies such as Facebook must explain how they will handle the privacy of user data privacy and be transparent about their response to issues.
“How will you protect users’ data?” Thune asked ahead of Zuckerberg's testimony. “How will you inform users about the changes you are making? And how do you intend to proactively stop harmful conduct, instead of being forced to respond to it months or years later?”
Senator Dianne Feinstein brought up the fact that a Russian troll farm was able to buy Facebook ads in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election, which were seen by millions of people.
Zuckerberg then delivered his opening remarks before he faced questions from committee members. He said that Facebook "didn’t do enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm."
The social media giant’s CEO was also asked about censorship during yesterday’s testimony by members of the Senate.
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg told lawmakers Tuesday that he was "not specifically aware" of any instance where the social network had removed content posted by liberal groups amid concerns that the platform is biased against conservatives.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Zuckerberg that "a great many Americans" are "deeply concerned that Facebook and other tech companies are engaged in a pervasive pattern of bias and political censorship." Cruz then ticked off a list of conservative content that he claimed had been "suppressed" by Facebook, "including stories about [2012 GOP presidential candidate] Mitt Romney [and] stories about the Lois Lerner IRS scandal."
"In addition to that, Facebook has initially shut down the Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day page ... has blocked over two dozen Catholic pages, and most recently blocked Trump supporters Diamond and Silk’s page – with 1.2 million Facebook followers -- after determining their content and brand were 'unsafe to the community.'