WASHINGTON, Sept 19 — Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg was expected in Washington today for private talks with policymakers as the leading social network faces a myriad of regulatory and legal issues.
Zuckerberg’s visit comes five months after his stormy appearance before Congress, where he was grilled on Facebook’s data protection and privacy missteps.
“Mark will be in Washington, DC, to meet with policymakers and talk about future internet regulation. There are no public events planned,” a Facebook spokesman said yesterday.
The news comes with federal and state anti-trust enforcers looking into potential anti-competitive actions by Facebook, and with US lawmakers debating national privacy legislation.
Two months ago, the US Federal Trade Commission hit Facebook with a record US$5 billion (RM20.9 billion) fine for data protection violations in a wide-ranging settlement that calls for revamping privacy controls and oversight at the social network.
Earlier yesterday, executives from Facebook, Google and Twitter appeared before a Senate panel to answer questions on “digital responsibility” in the face of online violence and extremism.
Facebook announced this week it had teamed up with the London police to refine its data practices as part of a ramped-up effort to thwart live-streams of terror attacks such as the New Zealand mosque massacre.
Separately, Facebook announced it had drafted its charter for its “independent oversight board,” giving the panel the authority to overrule Zuckerberg and other executives on questions of appropriate content. — AFP
