Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was grilled by members of the US Senate on Tuesday after revelations that Cambridge Analytica, a data mining firm affiliated with Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, gathered personal information from 87 million users to try to influence elections.
Although the hearing itself was billed as focusing on privacy issues in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, senators took the opportunity to pepper Zuckerberg with questions on a variety of topics.
Here’s a look at five of the most interesting story lines and exchanges out of the hearing.
A lengthy apology
OK, so we knew this was going to happen, but it’s still important for the record: Zuckerberg publicly and unabashedly took the blame for the scandal right from the get-go, saying in his opening statement that his company has to do better when it comes to protecting users’ privacy.
‘‘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 said that Facebook is going through ‘‘a broader philosophical shift in how we approach our responsibility as a company.’’
Although he acknowledged that “we have made a lot of mistakes in running the company,’’ Zuckerberg did grow a bit defensive: ‘‘I think it’s pretty much impossible, I believe, to start a company in your dorm room and then grow it to be at the scale that we’re at now without making some mistakes,’’ he said.
Still, that didn’t stop senators from reprimanding Zuckerberg over the recent privacy revelations.
“Let me just cut to the chase. If you and other social media companies do not get your act in order, none of us are going to have any privacy anymore,” said Democratic Senator Bill Nelson of Florida.
Zuckerberg divulges one of his biggest regrets
Under questioning by Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, Zuckerberg said that “one of my greatest regrets in running the company is that we were slow in identifying Russian information operations in 2016.”
During the hearing, Zuckerberg tried to reassure lawmakers who are worried that Russia and other foreign powers will use Facebook to meddle in the upcoming midterm elections, telling them: “This is one of my top priorities in 2018, to get this right.”
The CEO also said Facebook has deployed new artificial intelligence tools that do a better job identifying fake accounts.
“This is an arms race,” he said.
Zuckerberg reveals Facebook is working with Mueller
Under questioning by Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the Facebook CEO acknowledged that his company has been in contact with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office in regards to the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Leahy also asked if Facebook had been subpoenaed by Mueller’s office. Zuckerberg at first said yes, adding that while some at his company have been interviewed by Mueller’s office, he himself had not.
“I want to be careful here,” Zuckerberg said. “I believe that our work with the special counsel is confidential, and I want to make sure in an open session I’m not revealing something that’s confidential.”
Zuckerberg appeared to walk back his statement about the subpoenas shortly after, saying he wasn’t aware of any subpoenas but acknowledging, “I know that we’re working with them.”
Earlier this year, Mueller charged 13 Russian individuals and three Russian companies in a plot to interfere in the presidential election through a social media propaganda effort that included online ad purchases using US aliases and politicking on US soil. Some of the Russian ads were on Facebook.
A testy exchange with Senator Graham
Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, tried to get Zuckerberg to admit that Facebook has a monopoly on the social media market. Zuckerberg, however, didn’t bite during the exchange.
“Who’s your biggest competitor?” Graham asked.
“Senator, we have a lot of competitors,” Zuckerberg replied.
After a bit more back and forth, Graham interrupted, asking point-blank: “You don’t think you have a monopoly?”
“It certainly doesn’t feel like that to me,” Zuckerberg quickly retorted, garnering some quiet laughter from the audience.
Graham’s questioning was in line with the thinking of some critics who say Facebook is too big, and that it should be forced to spin off platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram.
Generally, though, Facebook is considered a ‘‘duopoly’’ with Google when it comes to the digital advertising market. It does have several competitors on other fronts, including Twitter, Snapchat, and various messaging apps around the world.
Cruz hits at Facebook’s political leanings
Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, took his firebrand lawyer ways to the national stage as he grilled Zuckerberg on Facebook’s political leanings, hinting that the platform was biased against conservatives.
The former GOP presidential candidate said that Facebook has shut down pages like one for Chik-Fil-A Appreciation Day, and has blocked a Fox News reporter, several Catholic pages, and Trump supporters.
“There are a great many Americans who I think are deeply concerned that Facebook and other tech companies are engaged in a pervasive pattern of bias and political censorship,” Cruz said.
“I understand where that concern is coming from because Facebook and the tech industry are located in Silicon Valley, which is an extremely left-leaning place,” Zuckerberg acknowledged. “This is actually a concern that I have and I try to root out in the company, to make sure we don’t have any bias in the work that we do.”
After some more back and forth, Zuckerberg noted that Facebook does not ask its content reviewers’ political orientation before hiring or firing them.
Cruz then asked why Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus VR, was fired from Facebook, seeming to catch Zuckerberg off guard.
“That is a specific personnel matter that seems like it would be inappropriate to speak to here,” Zuckerberg replied forcefully. “I can commit that it was not because of a political view.”
Editor’s note: The hearing before US Senate members was still ongoing at press time.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.