Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Oct. 23 to discuss Facebook’s influence on the finance and housing industries.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters, the Democratic chairwoman of the committee, announced on Wednesday that Zuckerberg would be the only witness testifying at a hearing, titled: “An Examination of Facebook and Its Impact on the Financial Services and Housing Sectors.”
The hearing follows a letter that she and other committee Democrats had sent Facebook in July requesting Facebook temporarily stop creating its proposed cryptocurrency, Libra, and digital wallet, Calibra.
Waters already convened a hearing in July with the leader of the Calibra and Libra projects, David Marcus, who is one of Zuckerberg’s top lieutenants at Facebook.
At that hearing in July, the committee discussed a draft bill that would prohibit large platforms like Facebook from becoming official financial institutions — like banks, investment funds, or stock exchanges — or becoming affiliated with such institutions.
The bill would also prohibit platforms like Facebook from establishing digital assets intended to be widely used as a medium of exchange, as defined by the Federal Reserve.
The hearing will be a unique opportunity for lawmakers to grill Zuckerberg in public and further pushback against his Libra and Calibra financial initiatives is expected.
Zuckerberg was recently in Washington for a series of closed-door meetings with lawmakers, his first official visit to the capital since his 2018 testimonies over the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
His recent engagement with member of Congress marks a shift in his behavior and demonstrates that he accepts that more regulation of Facebook is coming.
