Facebook CEO and Founder Mark Zuckerberg found himself in the hot seat for about 10 hours on Wednesday, Apr. 11. He sat before legislators in the House and Senate to address their questions pertaining to a widespread breach in users’ data.
One Republican lawmaker warned Zuckerberg to be careful, otherwise they would have to start regulating the social media website.
Lawmakers also questioned whether Facebook was capable of regulating itself after 87 million Facebook users unknowingly had their personal information accessed by Cambridge Analytica, a data firm with ties to the Trump campaign.
Recent revelations have caused public outrage over consumer privacy on Facebook, according to a CNN tech article.
“I don’t want to vote to have to regulate Facebook, but by God I will,” Senator John Kennedy (R), from Louisiana, said in the hearing Wednesday.
Since the questioning, lawmakers have called for policies that give consumers more control over their information and increase transparency for online political advertisements.
Twitter and Facebook both support a bill that will push for political advertising transparency.
Since the hearing, Zuckerberg promised to take a series of steps to protect data and correct what he referred to as a “breach of trust,” according to CNN.
“We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can’t then we don’t deserve to serve you,” Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post. “I’ve been working to understand exactly what happened and how to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
CNN reports that Zuckerberg gained about $3 billion during the hearing; Facebook stocks increased about 4.5 percent starting from the morning of Apr. 10.
The market value of Facebook has increased to $23 billion dollars, despite the fact that the company has been in the spotlight for violations of its users’ privacy.
