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Why Mark Zuckerberg Needed To Meet With Washington Lawmakers This Week

This article is more than 4 years old.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is in Washington, D.C., this week to meet with U.S. lawmakers in a series of private dinners and meetings over the $541 billion social media company’s privacy practices and massive reach, as it seeks to shape possible regulation.

A company spokesperson told Forbes that the 34-year-old billionaire CEO will “meet with policy makers and talk about future internet regulation” and that there are no public events planned during his trip.

Zuckerberg hasn’t made such a high-profile appearance in the nation’s capital since he testified in front of Congress in the wake of the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal. 

Facebook has faced increased scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers since then, following another string of high-profile privacy violations and accusations of anticompetitive practices. The company is currently facing two probes by the FTC and by a group of state attorneys general from eight states and the District of Columbia into its competitive practices.

About half a dozen bipartisan lawmakers have publicly acknowledged meeting with or intending to meet with Zuckerberg this week including Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.), Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), Senator Josh Hawely (R-Mo.), Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).

A spokesperson for Senator Warner said the lawmaker helped organize a dinner in Washington, D.C., last night at Facebook’s request for Zuckerberg and a group of senators. The group reportedly discussed how to defend elections from foreign interference; how to better protect consumer data; cryptocurrency; and competition in the social media industry. 

Warner led the congressional investigation into Russian efforts to use Facebook and other social media tools to sow discord and spread misinformation ahead of the 2016 presidential election. He also introduced legislation that forces people and groups to identify themselves when purchasing political ads on the social network.

Zuckerberg wrote earlier this year in a Washington Post op-ed that he believes tech should indeed be regulated. “I believe we need a more active role for governments and regulators,” he said. “From what I’ve learned, I believe we need new regulation in four areas: harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability.”

The young billionaire’s visit to Washington, D.C., is an opportunity for him to repair the company’s reputation as it faces a new wave of government investigations.

In July, Facebook reached a record-setting $5 billion settlement with the FTC following a probe into its privacy practices. The investigation was launched in response to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, when it was discovered that the political data firm used Facebook data without user consent to target U.S. voters in the 2016 presidential election.

Update 9/19/2019 (5:10 p.m. PT): President Donald Trump announced in tweet that he also met with Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday.

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