Facebook chief technology officer to step down

Facebook’s chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer said he will be stepping down from his top position at the social media giant sometime next year. 

Schroepfer will stay on in a part-time role as Facebook’s first senior fellow after his 13-year tenure at the company. 

“This is a difficult decision because of how much I love Facebook and how excited I am about the future we are building together. This change in role will allow me to dedicate more time to my family and my personal philanthropic efforts while staying deeply connected to the company working on key initiatives including recruiting and developing technical talent and continuing to foster our AI investments in critical technologies like PyTorch,” Schroepfer said in a Facebook post.

The position will be filled by Andrew Bosworth, a Facebook executive who has led the company’s efforts in augmented and virtual reality.

Schroepfer joined facebook in 2008 and assumed his position as chief technology officer in 2013. 

He is stepping down from his position at a time when lawmakers have scrutinized the social media company over its content moderation policies. 

Pressure on Facebook has ramped up since a series of bombshell reports The Wall Street Journal published last week highlighted concerns lawmakers have previously raised over the company’s handling of misinformation and impact on consumers. 

During a Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee hearing on data privacy Tuesday, senators on both sides of the aisle strayed slightly off the topic of the meeting to direct questions at Facebook’s vice president of privacy and public policy, Steve Satterfield, about the allegations in the report.

Senators are looking to grill Facebook executives further — particularly on a Journal report about Instagram’s impact on teen menthol health. The top senators of the Senate Commerce consumer protection subcommittee have asked the company to send a witness to testify at a hearing scheduled for next week.