UPDATE: Recode says while it's likely Zuckerberg will testify, Facebook refuses to confirm the news.
Officially, Facebook says that it is still undecided, and a spokesperson declined to confirm CNN’s story ...A Facebook spokesperson said, “I can reiterate that we’ve received the invites and are talking to legislators.”
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A spokesperson for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, one of the committees that invited Zuckerberg to testify, says that the CEO hasn’t committed to testify either.
“Reports of Mr. Zuckerberg’s confirmed attendance are incorrect. The committee is continuing to work with Facebook to determine a day and time for Mr. Zuckerberg to testify,” Elena Hernandez, a spokesperson for the committee, told Recode.
A spokesperson for the Senate Judiciary Committee, which also invited Zuckerberg to testify, said that she had “no update” when asked if Zuckerberg would testify. A separate spokesperson for the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, the third committee to invite Zuckerberg to Washington, also said there was no update.
Facebook won’t say if Mark Zuckerberg will testify before Congress (Recode)
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has agreed to testify before Congress.
CNN:
Facebook sources tell CNNMoney the 33-year-old CEO has come to terms with the fact that he will have to testify before Congress within a matter of weeks, and Facebook is currently planning the strategy for his testimony.
The pressure from lawmakers, the media and the public has become too intense to justify anything less.
However, Zuckerberg continues to refuse to appear before a UK parliamentary committee.
Zuckerberg has been invited three times to speak to the committee, which is investigating the effects of fake news on UK democracy, but has always sent deputies to testify in his stead.
Even when the committee travelled to Washington DC in February to obtain oral evidence from US companies, Facebook flew over its UK policy director rather than send a high-level executive to speak to the committee.
In response to the latest request, Facebook has suggested one of two executives could speak to parliament: Chris Cox, the company’ chief product officer, who is in charge of the Facebook news feed, or Mike Schroepfer, the chief technology officer, who heads up the developer platform.
CNN:
The Facebook sources believe Zuckerberg's willingness to testify [before Congress] will also put pressure on Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to do the same. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley has officially invited all three CEOs to a hearing on data privacy on April 10.
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Facebook now faces a Herculean effort to restore public trust in its commitment to privacy and data protection, sources at the company have told CNN.
The scandal also highlights a problem that is built into the company's DNA: Its business is data exploitation. Facebook makes money by, among other things, harvesting user data and sharing it with app developers and advertisers. Preventing those buyers from passing that data to third parties with ulterior motives may ultimately be impossible.
Exclusive: Mark Zuckerberg has decided to testify before Congress (CNN)
Zuckerberg's refusal to testify branded 'absolutely astonishing' (The Guardian)