Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he is open to appearing before Congress in response to lawmakers urging him to testify on the controversy surrounding Cambridge Analytica, a data analytics firm that worked for President Trump’s campaign, and how it may not have have deleted data it allegedly improperly obtained from Facebook users.
“The short answer is I’m happy to if it’s the right thing to do,” Zuckerberg told CNN’s Laurie Segall in an interview that aired Wednesday evening on “Anderson Cooper 360.”
“What we try to do is send the person at Facebook who will have the most knowledge,” he added. “If that’s me, then I am happy to go.”
Zuckerberg broke his silence on the issue for the first time earlier Wednesday in an extensive Facebook post, explaining changes the social media platform would implement to prevent similar controversies. But some lawmakers weren’t satisfied and continued clamoring for him the testify.
“Given Mr. Zuckerberg’s public comment today that ‘at the end of the day I’m responsible for what happens on our platform’, it is all the more appropriate that he personally represent his company in an appearance before Congress,” Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said in a statement.
Zuckerberg expressed similar sentiments about appearing before Congress in an interview with WIRED, noting that there are people at the company whose full-time jobs concern legal compliance. But, Zuckerberg left the door open to testifying himself, if he were the appropriate person to do it.
In the interview with CNN on Wednesday, Zuckerberg also apologized that the breach occurred in the first place.
“This was a major breach of trust, and I’m really sorry that this happened,” Zuckerberg said.
Earlier Wednesday evening, former Cambridge Analytica employee Christopher Wylie announced he will testify before the U.S. Congress and the United Kingdom’s Parliament.
“Accepting invitation to testify before US House Intelligence Committee, US House Judiciary Committee & UK Parliament Digital Committee. It’s time for our democratic institutions to take control,” Wylie said in a tweet Wednesday evening.
Accepting invitation to testify before US House Intelligence Committee, US House Judiciary Committee & UK Parliament Digital Committee. It’s time for our democratic institutions to take control @HouseJudDems @AdamSchiffCA @CommonsCMS @DamianCollins
— Christopher Wylie (@chrisinsilico) March 21, 2018
Parliament has also requested that Zuckerberg appear before it.
Reports emerged late last week that said Cambridge Analytica may have kept data it had obtained from the Facebook profiles of millions of accounts. The information was then used to sway voters in the 2016 election.
Zuckerberg, in his Facebook post Wednesday afternoon, shared a timeline of events, starting in 2007, when Facebook initiated the Facebook Platform that permitted users to log into apps and share information about their friends.
He said a researcher at Cambridge University, Aleksander Kogan, launched the “thisisyourdigitallife” app in 2013 and requested that he obtain access to information from 270,000 Facebook users after they downloaded his app.
Facebook approved his request, and as a result, Facebook users provided their consent for Kogan to receive information from their profiles, including the city set on their profiles and content they had liked. Ultimately, Kogan gained access to “tens of millions of their friends’ data.”
But Facebook altered the platform in 2014 so that apps were limited in the data they could harvest, meaning apps such as Kogan’s could not request data about a user’s friend unless that friend provided authorization.
Facebook became aware in 2015 from journalists at the Guardian that Kogan had shared data he had obtained from his app with those at Cambridge Analytica. Kogan’s app removed the app in response.
Additionally, Facebook requested that certifications from Kogan and all who had received data be provided to ensure that the data was destroyed. Kogan, Cambridge, and Wiley indicated they complied, but Facebook said in recent days it received reports suggesting that not all the data was deleted.
“This was a breach of trust between Kogan, Cambridge Analytica and Facebook,” Zuckerberg said on Facebook. “But it was also a breach of trust between Facebook and the people who share their data with us and expect us to protect it. We need to fix that.”
Facebook said it will coordinate with a forensic audit to verify whether Cambridge Analytica has deleted the data, and the social media company also said it is working alongside regulators to learn more about the situation.
Facebook claims that apps that had access to swarms of data prior to the 2014 changes will also be investigated and audits of apps with “suspicious activity” will be launched. Those who have improperly used personal information and app developers that do not comply to the audit will be barred from the social media platform.
Facebook also announced that it would limit developers’ access to data and restrict the amount of data users must provide an app when they login. If a developer wants to request access to users’ posts or other private information, they must receive approval and sign a contract.
Facebook Chief of Operations Sheryl Sandberg, who like Zuckerberg dodged a Facebook town hall with employees on Tuesday, weighed in on the issue Wednesday as she shared Zuckerberg’s post.
“We have a responsibility to protect your data — and if we can’t, then we don’t deserve to serve you,” Sandberg said in her own Facebook post.
“You deserve to have your information protected — and we’ll keep working to make sure you feel safe on Facebook,” she added. “Your trust is at the core of our service. We know that and we will work to earn it.”
Facebook announced on Friday that Cambridge Analytica, its parent company Strategic Communication Laboratories, Wylie, and others would be suspended from Facebook in response to the reports that not all data that had been obtained had been properly deleted.
Cambridge Analytica has denied that it did anything improper with the Facebook data.
