Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg faces questions from US lawmakers

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg faces questions from US lawmakers
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg faces questions from US lawmakers April 10, 2018.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg began a two-day congressional inquisition Tuesday with a public apology for a privacy scandal that has roiled the social media giant he founded more than a decade ago. CGTN’s Jim Spellman reports.

Zuckerberg opened his remarks before the Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees by taking responsibility for failing to prevent Cambridge Analytica, a data-mining firm affiliated with Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, from gathering personal information from 87 million users to try to influence elections.

Zuckerberg visited with senators in closed-door meetings Monday, previewing the public apology he planned to give Congress on Tuesday.

Zuckerberg had apologized many times already, to users and the public, but this was the first time in his career that he had gone before Congress. He also is to testify Wednesday before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

In the hearings, Zuckerberg is not only trying to restore public trust in his company but also to stave off federal regulations that some lawmakers have floated. In his opening statement to senators, he also apologized for fake news, hate speech, a lack of data privacy and Russian social media interference in the 2016 elections.

“We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake,” he said. “It was my mistake, and I’m sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here.”

Zuckerberg’s prepared statement was published on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s website.  You can read it here.