Tech

Mark Zuckerberg was grilled by Congress in his 2nd day of testimony

By Rob Price
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Mark Zuckerberg. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP
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  • After five hours of testimony on Tuesday, Mark Zuckerberg was before Congress again on Wednesday.
  • The Facebook CEO revealed that his data had been harvested by malicious actors on the platform.

Mark Zuckerberg survived his first clash with Congress. Now it's time for round two.

On Wednesday, the Facebook CEO testified before a House committee over a series of bruising scandals for the social network, including the spread of Russian propaganda on its platform and the data-analysis firm Cambridge Analytica's harvesting of up to 87 million users' data.

In the first part of the hearing, Zuckerberg, 33, revealed that malicious actors had harvested his data on the platform, said Facebook was considering suing Cambridge Analytica, and pushed back on allegations that Facebook censors conservatives.

Questioning was considerably more aggressive and informed on Wednesday than at a five-hour hearing on Tuesday before two Senate committees. Zuckerberg has been grilled on the categories of information Facebook collects, its failure to crack down on opioid sales on its platform, and its building of "shadow profiles" of non-users without their consent.

Allegations of anti-conservative bias on the platform was a recurrent theme on Wednesday, with conservative lawmakers repeatedly accusing Zuckerberg's site of censorship.

In Tuesday's hearing, Zuckerberg performed well — albeit woodenly — sticking closely to company talking points and avoiding embarrassing gaffes. And the tech illiteracy of many of the senators hampered the efficacy of much of the questioning, with Zuckerberg at times having to explain basic features of the social network.

Wednesday's hearing covered much of the same ground, featuring a litany of apologies and a recap of already announced policy and context about the Cambridge Analytica case.

Wednesday's hearing before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce kicked off at 10 a.m. ET (7 a.m. PT, or 3 p.m. BST).

Among the highlights of Tuesday's Senate hearing:

  • Zuckerberg disclosed that Facebook employees had been interviewed by the special counsel's office as it investigates Russia's meddling in the 2016 US election.
  • Lawmakers also accused the company of violating a Federal Trade Commission order.
  • Zuckerberg acknowledged that most people didn't read the social network's terms of service before signing up.

Read Business Insider's recap of Day 1 of Zuckerberg's testimony »

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Reporter Rob Price sitting at a table
Rob Price
Rob Price was a senior correspondent at Business Insider, based in San Francisco. He wrote investigations and long-form features about platforms, people, and power in Silicon Valley.His stories variously led to attorney general investigations, large-scale internal reviews at major tech companies, high-profile personnel departures, citation by state and federal lawmakers, and the closure of a well-funded startup. His 2022 story on the Bitfinex hack is being adapted into a feature film, and in 2024 he received an SPJ NorCal Excellence in Journalism award for his reporting on AI and relationships.Rob's scoops and exclusive stories were cited by The New York Times, Bloomberg, the BBC, Associated Press, Reuters, CNBC, Politico, The Guardian, Axios, and many other national and international publications. His writing has also been published in or syndicated by The Washington Post, The Independent, Vice, Slate, and elsewhere, and he appeared on CNN, the BBC, CBS, Reuters, ABC Australia, and other broadcast media to discuss technology, business, and culture.He worked for Business Insider from 2015 to 2025. Prior to joining the features team, Rob covered Facebook and Silicon Valley, and before that wrote about tech business, policy, and the gig economy in London. Between September and October 2019, he was acting executive editor for Business Insider's UK bureau. He also sat on the board of directors for the San Francisco Press Club, the leading non-profit media advocacy group in the Bay Area, and was a volunteer crew member at the Marine Mammal Center, the world's largest animal hospital for marine mammals. You can contact Rob Price via email at robaeprice@gmail.com, or +1 650-636-6268 (Signal / WhatsApp / Cell). Selected stories:— They spoke out against their employer. Then they were hit with trade secrets suits.— The rise of 'shadow stand-ins'— App, Lover, Muse: Inside a 47-year-old Minnesota man's three-year relationship with an AI chatbot— Deel Speed: The inside story of a $12 billion HR startup's breakneck growth— Private islands, flying cars, and psychedelic parties: Inside the wild post-Google lives of Larry Page and Sergey Brin— 'I want your Instagram account': First came the threatening texts, followed by the SWAT teams. Then someone wound up dead.— Inside Iconiq: How Mark Zuckerberg's banker built a secret Silicon Valley empire and made billions— Gaia was a wildly popular yoga brand. Now it's a publicly traded Netflix rival pushing conspiracy theories while employees fear the CEO is invading their dreams— A drunken late-night assault allegation has roiled the secretive world of Mark Zuckerberg's private family office. Personal aides are speaking out about claims that household staff endured sexual harassment and racism from their colleagues.
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