Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Testifies Before Congress

April 13, 2018 National News, Politics, Social Media

Facebook is working to repair its broken reputation following the ongoing investigation related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

CNBC reports that both the London-based elections consultancy and Facebook are at the center of an ongoing dispute regarding the alleged harvesting and use of personal data. These allegations have taken an aggressive turn and have cause concern over whether this data was then used to try to sway the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the Brexit vote.

Concluding on Wednesday, April 11 over the span of nearly 10 hours, Zuckerberg answered questions from almost 100 lawmakers. With the first hearing on Tuesday and the second on Wednesday, Zuckerberg confessed a variety of ways Facebook has misused user data. Throughout these hearings, Zuckerberg admitted that “for security purposes,” Facebook even collects data from some people who do not have accounts with the platform.

Some legislators are now also wondering if Facebook’s third-party app data policies violate a 2011 agreement with the Federal Trade Commission. If true, Facebook may be subject to significant fines.

According to CNN, although shares of Facebook dipped early Thursday morning, they are still up nearly 3% since Zuckerberg entered Capitol Hill to face questioning on Tuesday. The significance of this increase is that Zuckerberg, who owns more than 401.4 million shares in Facebook, is now $3 billion richer due to his appearance with the Senate and House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Facebook has been notifying the tens of millions who were affected by the data breach.

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Danielle Germain
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Danielle Germain (she/her/hers) is originally from Long Island, New York. She is a rising junior at The American University, majoring in Broadcast Journalism, and minoring in Political Science. She partakes in various activities on campus. Danielle is a Teacher's Assistant, the Vice President of Programming for Caribbean Circle, The Social Media Director and Web Manager for The Blackprint, Programming Coordinator for Founder's Week Committee, Senior Communications Strategist for AUSG Center for Advocacy and Student Equity or CASE, Secretary of the Junior Class Council and a Club Consultant for American University Club Council. After learning more about herself freshman year, Danielle became deeply interested in pushing diversity and inclusion forward. Since then, Danielle has started The Purpose, a bible study for students of color at AU. By creating a safe space on campus, she hopes that the voices of those who feel underrepresented are heard and also valued. In her free time, Danielle enjoys going to brunch and watching Gossip Girl. This past summer, Danielle served as the Corporate Communications Intern for Macy's Inc. Danielle has a passion for politics and a love for writing, and one day hopes to become a political commentator for CNN. She can be reached at dg0060a@student.american.edu.

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