Tuesday’s Senate hearing with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been moved to a larger hearing room to accommodate the huge public interest in what’s expected to be hours of testimony on data privacy, “fake news” and Russia’s use of the social media giant to influence the 2016 election.
The hearing was originally set to be held in a room at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center.
But the hearing was moved to room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building, which one aide said will allow more people to attend.
The Senate aide said the original room held fewer than 100 seats for the public, while the new venue holds more than 130 seats, and has “much more room for the media.”
Interest in Zuckerberg’s appearance started spiking Monday, when he was followed around the Senate side of the Capitol by a mob of reporters and cameras as he met with a handful of senators.
Reporters shouted questions to Zuckerberg as he walked through the hallways in a dark suit, but Zuckerberg didn’t engage with the press.
Facebook has acknowledged that as many as 87 million of its users may have had their data taken without permission. Cambridge Analytica gathered that data without getting the right permission, but also said a contractor took data from millions of more people than it anticipated.
Republicans may also push Zuckerberg on his efforts to exclude “fake news” from his website, which some have said has led to the unfair targeting of conservative news organizations.
Zuckerberg will also be pushed on how his company failed to see that Russia was using his service to influence the 2016 election. The embattled CEO has admitted he moved “too slow” to stop Russia’s actions.
Zuckerberg’s testimony on Tuesday will be before a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.
On Wednesday, Zuckerberg will face similar questions from House lawmakers.
