Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged Wednesday that regulation of social media is “inevitable” and disclosed that his own personal information has been compromised by malicious outsiders. But after two days of congressional testimony, what seemed clear was how little Congress seems to know about Facebook, much less what to do about it.
Statements from representatives facing re-election this year ranged from complaints of anti-conservative bias to questions about whether Facebook could improve broadband speeds in their state.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to testify before a House Energy and Commerce hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 11, 2018, about the use of Facebook data to target American voters in the 2016 election and data privacy. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)Facebook shares rose more than 1 percent after climbing 4.5 percent Monday. Rather than putting a dent in his well-prepared armor, two days of unfocused questioning helped Zuckerberg restore more than $25 billion in market value the company has lost since the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke in mid-March.
Facebook’s stock remains 10 percent below where it stood before the scandal, a decline that has wiped out about $50 billion in shareholder wealth.
Wrapping up his four-minutes of questioning, Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Florida commended the platform, saying “it’s wonderful for us seniors to connect with our relatives.”