ZUCKERBERG APOLOGY NOT ENOUGH FOR US SENATORS
Facebook chief tries to quell the storm over privacy and security lapses
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has accepted personal responsibility for the leaking of data from tens of millions of its users, warning of an “arms race” against Russian misinformation.
In his first formal appearance before the US Senate, the co-founder of Facebook answered questions for almost five hours as he sought to quell the storm over privacy and security lapses that angered legislators and the network’s two billion users.
Under mounting pressure, Mr Zuckerberg repeated his apology before being grilled over how Facebook collects and protects people’s personal information.
“It was my mistake and I’m sorry,” he said after 87 million people’s information was improperly shared by Cambridge Analytica, a company working for Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.
“I started Facebook, I run it and I’m responsible for what happens here.”
He said that Facebook fell short in protecting the platform: “That goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections and hate speech, as well as developers and data privacy.”
Mr Zuckerberg, 33, spoke of a constant struggle to guard against Russian manipulation of his platform to influence elections in the US and elsewhere.
“There are people in Russia whose job it is to try to exploit our systems, other internet systems and other systems as well,” he said.
“So this is an arms race. They’re going to keep getting better and we need to invest in getting better at this too.”
Mr Zuckerberg has earlier acknowledged that the social network failed to do enough to prevent the spread of misinformation during the last US presidential race.
The Senate hearing, before another appearance in the House yesterday, was at times tense and at others friendly during discussion on the social network’s security, hate speech and other topics.
Of the hundreds of questions he faced, none appeared to flummox him more than Senator Dick Durbin’s pointed query about where he had slept the previous evening.
“Would you be comfortable sharing with us the name of the hotel you stayed in last night?” Mr Durbin asked.
Mr Zuckerberg paused for eight seconds, chuckled, grimaced and said: “Um, uh, no.”
“If you’ve messaged anybody this week, would you share with us the names of the people you’ve messaged?” the Illinois Democrat asked.
Mr Zuckerberg showed a similar unwillingness to answer.
More than any other senator in five hours of questioning, Mr Durbin’s everyman tactic hit the heart of the issue surrounding Facebook’s handling of its users’ private data.
Mr Zuckerberg said he was open to regulation but cautioned against complex rules that might affect emerging social media companies.
“The internet is becoming increasingly important in people’s lives and I think we need to have a full conversation about what is the right regulation,” he said.
“You need to be careful that it doesn’t cement in the current companies that are winning.”
The chief executive also revealed that Facebook is co-operating with the US special prosecutor investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential vote.
“Our work with the special counsel is confidential,” Mr Zuckerberg said.
“I want to make sure in an open session I don’t reveal something that’s confidential.”
He said he had not been personally contacted and that he was not specifically aware of any subpoena of Facebook data.
“I believe there may be one but I know we’re working with them,” Mr Zuckerberg said.
Swapping his customary T-shirt for a suit and tie, the Facebook chief appeared sombre as he fielded questions over Cambridge Analytica’s huge data breach.
“We’ve been working to understand exactly what happened with Cambridge Analytica and taking steps to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Mr Zuckerberg said in his prepared remarks.
But the show of contrition fell short for some.
“We’ve seen the apology tours before,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. “And so, my reservation about your testimony today is that I don’t see how you can change your business model unless there are specific rules of the road.”
Testifying was a new step for Mr Zuckerberg, who started Facebook as a Harvard dropout in 2004 and built it into the world’s largest social media group, worth more than US$450 billion (Dh1.652 trillion).
He rejected the suggestion that the social media giant has exclusive control over its market.
“The average American uses eight different apps to communicate with their friends and stay in touch with people, ranging from texting to email,” Mr Zuckerberg said.
He also said the company believed in an advertising-supported business model but appeared to leave open the possibility of a paid version.
“There will always be a version of Facebook that is free,” Mr Zuckerberg said.