Mark Zuckerberg’s Apology Tour In Congress Ahead Of Hearings

Mark Zuckerberg Image by Getty

By Ari Feldman April 10, 2018

Mark Zuckerberg repeatedly expressed how sorry he was for misleading Facebook users to several lawmakers ahead of his testimony before Congress Tuesday, the New York Times reported.

Zuckerberg could be seen between meetings with members of the Senate Commerce and Judiciary Committees, walking with an entourage and wearing a dark suit with a black tie. Mark Zuckerberg managed to stay stone silent as he walked around the capitol despite being trailed by well over a dozen journalists and photographers.

“I think he’s trying,” said Senator Bill Nelson after his meeting with Zuckerberg. “But I think if we don’t get our arms around this, none of us is going to have any privacy anymore.”

Zuckerberg and Facebook are facing intense scrutiny after it was reported that 87 million Facebook users had their data used by Cambridge Analytica, the political consulting firm once run by Steve Bannon and backed by billionaire Trump supporter Robert Mercer. The firm received the data from a professor who made a simple app for Facebook. Users were not aware that their personal data, including data about their friends, was being gathered by a third party to use how they saw fit.

Zuckerberg also met with Senators Chuck Grassley, Diane Feinstein and John Thune. Facebook described the meetings as “courtesy meetings.”

“We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake,” Mr. Zuckerberg said in a prepared statement. “It was my mistake, and I’m sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here.”

Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. He covers Jewish religious organizations, synagogue life, anti-Semitism and the Orthodox world. If you have any tips, you can email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aefeldman.

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