Washington : Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told Congress in written testimony on Monday that he is “responsible for” not preventing the social media platform from being used for harm, including fake news, foreign interference in elections and hate speech.
“We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility and that was a big mistake,” Xinhua quoted Zuckerburg as saying in a prepared testimony released by the US House Energy and Commerce Committee.
“It was my mistake, and I’m sorry. I started Facebook, I run it and I’m responsible for what happens here,” he said in the remarks he is expected to deliver in a hearing on Wednesday.
His apology came after Facebook is embroiled in a widening scandal that a British data firm called Cambridge Analytica had improperly gathered detailed Facebook information on 87 million users, up from a previous estimate of more than 50 million.
Also, Facebook revealed on Wednesday that outsiders took advantage of search tools on its platform, making it possible for them to collect personal information on most of its 2 billion users worldwide without the users’ explicit permission.
Apple co-founder shuts down FB a/c
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is closing his Facebook account as one of the latest tech leaders who started to distance themselves from the world’s largest social media firm following its scandal involving alleged misuse of user data.
Wozniak told the USA Today daily on Monday that he was taken aback by the extent of Facebook’s data collection when he changed and deleted some of his information before deactivating his account, reports Xinhua.