Zuckerberg meets with Waters ahead of congressional testimony

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) behind closed doors on Wednesday ahead of his testimony before the committee she chairs next week, according to multiple reports.

The Information and NBC News both reported the meeting. The Hill has reached out to Waters’s office for more information.

Zuckerberg is scheduled to testify before the House Financial Services Committee next Wednesday in a hearing that will likely focus on Facebook’s plans to launch a new digital currency called Libra next year.

{mosads}Scrutiny on Libra has been building for months from lawmakers and regulators concerned a cryptocurrency from one of the world’s largest social media platforms could have significant effects on the world financial system.

Zuckerberg’s testimony comes at a critical juncture for the digital currency project.

Critics have pounced on recent struggles from the Libra Association, which is is legally separate from Facebook.

The group has been hit with the departures of Mastercard, Visa, eBay, Stripe and PayPal this month.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have raised concerns that the Switzerland-based project could be abused for terrorist financing and money laundering and that Facebook can’t be trusted in the financial services sector.

Zuckerberg is the second top official to testify on the cryptocurrency following Libra executive David Marcus’s appearance before Congress in July.