Zuckerberg gets serious for hearings
WASHINGTON — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg placed the blame for privacy and security lapses at the world’s largest social network squarely on himself as he girded for appearances this week on Capitol Hill before angry lawmakers.
In prepared remarks released by a congressional panel, Zuckerberg admitted he was too idealistic and failed to grasp how the platform — used by 2 billion people — could be abused and manipulated.
The 33-year-old is to testify before senators on Tuesday and House lawmakers on Wednesday amid a firestorm over the hijacking of data on millions of Facebook users by the British firm Cambridge Analytica, which worked with US President Donald Trump’s campaign.
On Monday, Zuckerberg ditched his trademark T-shirt for a suit and tie as he made the rounds on Capitol Hill with his assistant Andrea Besmehn for private meetings with lawmakers ahead of the hearings — a key test for the Facebook founder.
“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 in his written testimony released by the House commerce committee.
“I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here.”
As well as questions around the data-sharing scandal, Zuckerberg will also likely face questions about ads and posts placed by Russian operatives, in what US authorities believe was an attempt to influence the 2016 election.
If Zuckerberg does not provide satisfactory answers this week, Congress is more likely to push new laws to strictly regulate Facebook. Anticipating such a move, the company has already said it favors new legislation that would make social networks disclose who is behind political ads, much as TV and radio stations must already do.
Zuckerberg traversed Capitol Hill on Monday surrounded by police and trailed by packs of reporters ahead of his scheduled appearance before the congressional committees.
On Monday, he was pictured in one photo showing his mobile device to Senator Bill Nelson, the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee. He did not respond to questions from reporters as he entered and left the building.
While wearing a suit won’t fix Facebook, it will serve as an outward sign that Zuckerberg is treating his testimony seriously. The CEO had rankled Wall Street back in 2012 when he paraded around in a hoodie when meeting with investors about the company’s initial public stock offering.
Since then, though, he’s often donned a suit when meeting with world leaders such as China’s President Xi Jinping or former US president Barack Obama.
But he’s not unique among Silicon Valley titans in wearing the same thing every day. Late Apple CEO Steve Jobs wore jeans and a black turtleneck. Both had their shirts specially designed and made for them, though it is possible to purchase copycats online.
Asked in a 2014 “town hall” with Facebook users why he wears what he wears, Zuckerberg said it’s so he has to make “as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community”.