Zuckerberg Faces Congressional Questioning Tuesday In Facebook Data Leak
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is apologizing for allowing 87 million Facebook users to have their information accessed. Zuckerberg will be questioned Tuesday by members of Congress including U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
A House committee released Mark Zuckerberg's prepared remarks in which he says:
"It was my mistake, and I'm sorry. I started Facebook, I run it and I'm responsible for what happens here."
Klobuchar says the apology is not enough.
"They are going to have to make some major changes to their platform because they basically built a product without locks or alarms and then I don't think they should be surprised when the bad guys got in," she said.
Klobuchar says she is glad Zuckerberg has already agreed to a bill she and Sen. John McCain proposed. Starting in June Facebook will disclose on its site who is paying for political ads -- but she says more is needed to protect Facebook users' information.
"What's going to have to happen is some new privacy rules so it's very clear to consumers," she said.
For Zuckerberg and Facebook the stakes could not be higher, in recent months Facebook stock has tumbled, the company's value dropping $50 billion. #DeleteFacebook is gaining traction. Just Monday Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, announced he was quitting Facebook. Zuckerberg, who is notoriously private, will be facing the kind of scrutiny he has never encountered before. Larry Kudlow, President Trump's Director of the National Economic Council, offered this assessment.
"Is he going to behave like an adult, as a major corporate leader or give me this phoney baloney -- what is it, hoodies and dungarees? What does that kind of signal?" Kudlow said.
For those who might be wondering how much Facebook is worth considering the mammoth drop in its stock value, the company is still worth over $400 billion and despite the scandals, conservatively the 33-year-old Zuckerberg's personal net worth is valued at more than $50 billion.