Mark Zuckerberg's prepared remarks before Congress released
One of the congressional committees that will be hearing from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg this week released his prepared testimony in advance of his appearance. Referring to Facebook as "an idealistic and optimistic company," Zuckerberg says in remarks prepared for his appearance before the House Energy and Commerce Committee that for most of the time the company has existed, its staff has "focused on all the good that connecting people can bring" through the communities and movements that could be built on Facebook's social media platform.
Zuckerberg is also expected to apologize again, saying, "We didn't take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake. It was my mistake, and I'm sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I'm responsible for what happens here."
He will go on to explain what happened in the Cambridge Analytica scandal and what steps Facebook is taking to ensure that it doesn't happen again.
The Facebook CEO will also reiterate that the company was "too slow to spot and respond to Russian interference" in the 2016 presidential election. During a two-year period encompassing Election Day, Zuckerberg will tell lawmakers that Facebook found about 470 accounts and pages linked to the Internet Research Agency, which generated some 80,000 Facebook posts during that time and served content to around 126 million people. On Instagram, another social media site owned by Facebook, Zuckerberg says that about 120,000 pieces of content were found, and some 20 million people were served this content.
Zuckerberg testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee Wednesday afternoon, and he'll appear before senators at the Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees on Tuesday.
His prepared testimony can be read here: