Vancouver Sun

Zuckerberg hammered in tough second round

U.S. lawmakers grill Facebook CEO for 5 hours

- Tony Romm

WASHINGTON • Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday faced a tougher, tenser grilling at his second congressio­nal hearing, as lawmakers unleashed a litany of complaints about the company’s privacy practices, its failure to fight the opioid crisis and the lack of diversity within its executive ranks.

For five hours, Democrats and Republican­s on the House Energy and Commerce Committee took turns swiping at Zuckerberg, holding him to “yes” and “no” questions and frequently cutting him off — a tactic that at times appeared to frustrate the Facebook cofounder.

Facebook’s data practices were the official topic of the hearing, prompted by its entangleme­nt with Cambridge Analytica, a political consultanc­y that improperly accessed 87 million Facebook users’ names, “likes” and other personal informatio­n. At one point in the hearing, Zuckerberg acknowledg­ed that his own data had been accessed by Cambridge Analytica.

Even as he apologized for the mishap and other recent troubles at Facebook, however, lawmakers repeatedly expressed doubt that the social giant could fix its troubles on its own — and threatened to regulate the company and its tech industry peers.

Opening the session, the House panel’s leader, Republican Rep. Greg Walden (Ore.), called Facebook an “American success story.” But he added: “While Facebook has certainly grown, I worry it has not matured. I think it is time to ask whether Facebook may have moved too fast and broken too many things.”

For Facebook, the Cambridge Analytica crisis has triggered unpreceden­ted political scrutiny, prompting Zuckerberg to testify at two hearings in two days, spanning 10 hours of questionin­g from 91 lawmakers. Meanwhile, the company could soon face major fines from the Federal Trade Commission, which has opened an investigat­ion.

But Facebook’s political and legal challenges span more than Cambridge Analytica. In the wake of its review of the firm’s activities, Facebook also has acknowledg­ed that malicious actors scraped informatio­n from the public profiles of practicall­y its entire base, more than two billion users.

For weeks, the revelation­s have wreaked havoc on Facebook’s stock, wiping out billions of dollars in value. On Wednesday, though, it closed up 0.8 per cent, continuing its rebound this week.

Zuckerberg started the House hearing by repeating the same apology he gave to the Senate a day earlier. “It was my mistake, and I’m sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsibl­e for what happens here,” he told House lawmakers.

But Zuckerberg’s demeanour vacillated between calm and frustrated as lawmakers challenged the 33-year-old billionair­e on a host of issues beyond consumer privacy. He sipped from a cup frequently as lawmakers hammered him with grievances.

Democratic Rep. G.K. Butterfiel­d, N.C., demanded that Zuckerberg improve the company’s hiring practices, pointing out that Facebook had no people of colour in its highest executive ranks. Republican Rep. Joe Barton, Texas, pressed Zuckerberg to address conservati­ves’ fears that the site censors their content, news and views. And Rep. David McKinley, W.Va., accused Zuckerberg and Facebook of “hurting people” by failing to thwart those who try to sell opioids on the site.

“I think there are a number of areas of content we need to do a better job of policing on our service,” Zuckerberg replied.

Some lawmakers read letters from their constituen­ts, detailing common complaints about the service that more than 200 million Americans use.

In one of the toughest exchanges on Wednesday, Democratic Rep. Anna Eshoo — a lawmaker who represents a slice of Silicon Valley — needled Zuckerberg for failing to explain its datacollec­tion practices to users in “clear and pedestrian language.”

Her Democratic colleague, New Mexico Rep. Ben Lujan, raised reports that Facebook collects data on those who aren’t even users — called “shadow profiles” by some. Zuckerberg, however, said he was “not specifical­ly familiar with that.”

WHILE FACEBOOK HAS CERTAINLY GROWN, I WORRY IT HAS NOT MATURED. I THINK IT IS TIME TO ASK WHETHER FACEBOOK MAY HAVE MOVED TOO FAST AND BROKEN TOO MANY THINGS. — FACEBOOK CO-CREATOR AND CEO MARK ZUCKERBERG

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Mark Zuckerberg

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