ZUCKERBERG WRAP UP: Mark Zuckerberg went through a second day of testimony on Wednesday, emerging from a marathon 5-hour hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The hearing followed Tuesday’s 5-hour hearing before senators.
The Facebook CEO was drawn into some heated exchanges as he was grilled on Facebook’s privacy practices, whether the company is a monopoly, its attitude towards conservatives and legislation that could restrict how the company operates.
Here are some highlights from today’s House hearing:
Dem lists all of Zuckerberg’s apologies: Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) reminded Zuckerberg and the rest of Congress that the Facebook CEO is no stranger to apology tours, recapping his record since starting the company.
“In 2003, it started at Harvard. ‘I apologize for any harm done as a result of my neglect,'” she said, before continuing the highlight reel:
2006: “We really messed this one up.”
2007: “We simply did a bad job. I apologize for it.”
2010: “Sometimes we move too fast.”
2011: “I’m the first to admit we’ve made a bunch of mistakes.”
2017: “I ask for forgiveness. I will work to do better.”
Dem compares Zuckerberg to J. Edgar Hoover: Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) said during day two of Zuckerberg’s hearings on Capitol Hill that the FBI and local police “maliciously” tricked organizations and individuals into participating in a counterintelligence program known as COINTELPRO. He said participants “tracked and shared” information about civil rights activists, including their political, social and religious affiliations.
“I was personally a victim of COINTELPRO. Your organization, your methodology, in my opinion is similar,” Rush told Zuckerberg.
GOP rep blasts Zuckerberg over opioids: In another remarkable exchange, Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.) took Zuckerberg to task for what he says are widespread opioid sales on the tech platform.
“Your platform is still being used to circumvent the law, and allow people to buy highly addictive drugs without a prescription,” McKinley told Zuckerberg.
“With all due respect, Facebook is actually enabling an illegal activity and, in so doing, you are hurting people. Would you agree with that statement?” the congressman asked.
“I think that there are a number of areas of content that we need to do a better job policing on our service,” Zuckerberg replied.
GOP rep defends Diamond and Silk: In another exchange, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) told Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday that popular pro-Trump vloggers Diamond and Silk are not terrorists.
Blackburn defended the pair after their “content and brand” were deemed to be “unsafe” to the social media giant’s community. Blackburn was only the latest GOP lawmaker to grill Zuckerberg on what some see as bias against conservative speech.
Scorecard: Zuckerberg was contrite during his second day of testimony but also offered a strong defense of his company and its policies. And he repeatedly insisted that the company is doing enough to address user privacy in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Here are takeaways from the hearing from Harper and Morgan Chalfant:
Zuckerberg kept his cool — but isn’t winning over everyone.
Lawmakers might try to regulate Facebook.
Zuckerberg left himself some wiggle room when asked about privacy legislation.
Concerns are mounting that Facebook has a ‘monopoly’.
The FTC investigation into whether the Cambridge Analytica breach violated a consent decree could be bad for Facebook.
Click here for more on the five takeaways.
Also ICYMI, here’s our take on yesterday’s hearing.
The New York Times fact-checked Zuckerberg’s first day of testimony.
The Washington Post has a transcript of Zuckerberg’s first day of testimony.
Recode breaks down Facebook’s ad-targeting system
Zuckerberg’s notes suggest he expected lawmakers to ask him if he would resign.
The public relations effort though is far from over for Facebook…
POLL FINDS FACEBOOK USERS WORRIED ABOUT CAMBRIDGE SCANDAL: A new Gallup poll has found that 43 percent of users are worried about their privacy online, an uptick over since 2011.
That year, 30 percent of Facebook users said they were concerned.
In the latest survey, just 11 percent said they weren’t concerned at all.
Please send your tips, comments and Zuckerberg takes to Ali Breland (abreland@digital-release.thehill.com) and Harper Neidig (hneidig@digital-release.thehill.com) and follow us on Twitter: @alibreland and @hneidig. We’re also on Signal and WhatsApp. Email or DM us for our numbers.
TRUMP SIGNS ONLINE SEX TRAFFICKING BILL: Trump ended the months-long fight over online sex trafficking and legal protections for web companies when he signed a controversial bill that sailed through the House and Senate earlier this year.
The legislation, called the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA), but also referred to as SESTA after the original Senate bill, cuts into the broad protections websites have from legal liability for content posted by their users.
Some internet companies say such a move could be disastrous for free speech online and could hurt smaller startups that will have a hard time monitoring their content. But Trump did not seem to grasp the opposition to the bill.
“This was a tough one. It shouldn’t have been tough,” Trump said. “I guess people have reasons [to oppose the legislation], but I personally don’t understand those reasons.”
The bottom line: The passage was a major blow to many Silicon Valley web companies that raised concerns about the bill.
ACTING CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA CEO STEPS DOWN: As Zuckerberg was testifying on the Hill, Cambridge Analytica announced that its acting CEO, Alexander Tayler, would step down from his role as chief of the company.
The firm said he would return to his previous role as chief data officer “in order to focus on the various technical investigations and inquiries” into the Facebook data scandal.
Tayler had only been CEO less than a month, stepping into the job in March when Alexander Nix was suspended after being caught on a hidden camera promising dirty tricks to the firm’s clients.
IBM PULLS ITS ADS FROM LAURA INGRAHAM SHOW: IBM has dropped its sponsorship of Laura Ingraham’s show after the pundit’s high-profile spat with one of the teen survivors of the Parkland massacre.
“IBM no longer advertises on the show you referenced,” an IBM spokesman told The Wrap.
The tech giant follows SlimFast and Blue Apron as the latest companies pull their ads from the show.
ON TAP:
The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) will hold a panel on competition policy at noon.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
The Verge: Google to launch new Gmail design in the coming weeks
The Wall Street Journal talked to tech workers worried that Congress doesn’t understand the internet