UPDATED 18:58 EST / OCTOBER 23 2019

BLOCKCHAIN

Mark Zuckerberg grilled after giving lawmakers Libra cryptocurrency testimony

Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg testified before the House Services Committee Wednesday, but though his remarks were released in advance Tuesday, the question-and-answer session delivered some surprises.

The committee hearing, titled “An Examination of Facebook and Its Impact on the Financial Services and Housing Sectors,” was meant to be on Facebook’s proposed Libra cryptocurrency alone. But it became clear early on that everything was on the table when it came to what members were interested in.

During his time giving testimony, Zuckerberg was asked questions about election interference, free speech, hate groups, fake news and privacy. Committee Chair Maxine Waters led the questioning, asking Zuckerberg about Facebook’s steps to combat misinformation and voter suppression ahead of the next U.S. presidential election. Waters was one of the first in Congress to criticize Libra after it was announced.

“It would be beneficial for all if Facebook concentrates on addressing its many existing deficiencies and failures before proceeding any further on the Libra project,” Waters told Zuckerberg.

Representative Katie Porter, a former law professor at the University of California at Irvine, focused on Facebook privacy, setting a trap for Zuckerberg by asking him to affirm “that Facebook cares about user privacy and still holds itself to the standards it articulates in its public policies.” With Zuckerberg having done so, Porter then asked, “If that’s true that you care about privacy and you’re hewing to these principles, why are you arguing, Facebook, in federal court, that consumers can’t hold you liable for any of these promises.”

According to Fast Company, Zuckerberg squirmed and begged that he did not know the full context of the case she was referring to.

Porter, not willing to providing any context, asked Zuckerberg if he would “commit to withdrawing this argument and this pleading and never again plead that there’s no liability on Facebook when data breaches occur.” Zuckerberg declined to answer the question.

In between various other questions that were not Libra related, Libra was eventually discussed.

“Facebook’s internal model was for a long time was ‘Move fast and break things.’ Mr. Zuckerberg, we do not want to break the international monetary system,” Representative Nydia Velazquez said. Zuckerberg, in response to concerns, said Facebook would leave the Libra Association if it attempted to launch Libra without U.S. regulatory approval.

Photo: Time/YouTube

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