Facebook CEO Mark Zuckeberg will testify next week in front of a congressional committee on the company’s handling of the Cambridge Analytica data leak
Mark Zuckerberg is headed to Washington, D. C.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee announced on Wednesday the Facebook chief executive will testify on April 11th at 10 a.m. ET. Zuckerberg will answer questions on the social network’s protection and use of user data.
Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) and ranking member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) had called on Zuckerberg to testify in the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica data leak, where 50 million users unknowingly had their data taken by the political consulting firm in 2014. Facebook didn’t publicly acknowledge the leak until it was reported last month by the New York Times.
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“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 in a statement on Wednesday.
Zuckerberg had turned down a similar request to testify in front of British Parliament last week. He’d said he’d be open to talking with Congress last month, while on a media tour in the wake of the data leak.
“The short answer is I’m happy to if it’s the right thing to do,” Zuckerberg told CNN. “What we try to do is send the person at Facebook who will have the most knowledge. If that’s me, then I am happy to go.”
Facebook’s stock has been battered in the last three weeks, dropping from $185 a share to about $151.55 on Wednesday morning.
