Facing public outrage and plummeting stock prices, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has agreed to appear before Congress next week in what will be his first time ever answering questions from U.S. lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
The Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees will hold a joint hearing on Tuesday, April 10th starting at 2:15pm ET titled "“Facebook, Social Media Privacy, and the Use and Abuse of Data." Zuckerberg will be the only witness, and the hearing will be streamed live online here.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) released a joint statement about the upcoming hearing.
“Social media has revolutionized the way we communicate, using data to connect people from around the world. With all of the data exchanged over Facebook and other platforms, users deserve to know how their information is shared and secured. This hearing will explore approaches to privacy that satisfy consumer expectations while encouraging innovation,” Grassley said.
“Facebook now plays a critical role in many social relationships, informing Americans about current events, and pitching everything from products to political candidates,” said Thune. “Our joint hearing will be a public conversation with the CEO of this powerful and influential company about his vision for addressing problems that have generated significant concern about Facebook’s role in our democracy, bad actors using the platform, and user privacy.”
The following day, April 11th, Zuckerberg will testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, starting at 10am ET.
Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) and Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) also put out a joint statement on Thursday.
“This hearing will be an important opportunity to shed light on critical consumer data privacy issues and help all Americans better understand what happens to their personal information online. We appreciate Mr. Zuckerberg’s willingness to testify before the committee, and we look forward to him answering our questions on April 11th,” said Walden and Pallone.
Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees Announce Joint Hearing with Facebook CEO (press release)
E&C Announces Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Will Testify April 11th (press release)