In the evening of April 10, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg testified for almost five hours in the US Senate. Representatives of the legal committee and the committee on trade, science and transport asked questions about these users and about the interference in the elections with the help of the social network. Zuckerberg admitted that the company made mistakes, but promised to take measures to better control the security of data. Full transcript of the speech can be read or viewed on YouTube. Here are the main theses from the many hours of the Facebook founder's testimony.
Mark Zuckerberg: "Facebook is a company of idealists and optimists". We created a tool for communication. But they could not protect themselves from being used to harm. "This is a big mistake. That's my fault. I regret. I created Facebook, I manage the company and I'm responsible for what happened ".
Now we have three main goals. The first is to understand what was done with our data from Cambridge Analytica and how many users it affected. The second is to check other applications that are massively requesting data. The third is to prevent similar leakages in the future. I am ready to answer any questions.
Question: How many more applications have you requested data in such quantity? How many times have you asked to remove them?.
Zuckerberg: Such cases were. I do not know how much. My staff will provide you with information.
Question: Your CEO Cheryl Sandberg hinted that if users do not want their data to be used for targeted advertising, they themselves have to pay for Facebook. This is true?.
Zuckerberg: In fact, yes. Although there is no such possibility now. We want to keep a free service available to all. Otherwise you can not collect billions of users.
Q: Will Facebook always be free?.
Zuckerberg: "There will always be a free version of Facebook".
Question: How do you intend to fight hate speech from users (hate speech)?.
Zuckerberg: Automatically allocating such posts is very difficult due to linguistic features. By the end of the year, we will have more than 20 thousand people to check the posts. We are already successfully using artificial intelligence to search for terrorist propaganda. I think in 5-10 years he will be able to search for other unacceptable statements.
Question: How do you fight the influence of foreign states in our elections?.
Zuckerberg: We already used artificial intelligence to find fake accounts for spreading political agitation. This method has proved itself in elections around the world in 2017. "In Russia there are people whose main job is to use our and other systems. It turns out such an arms race ".
Question: Your vice president Andrew Bosworth stated that the task of the social network is to provide communication, even if it is used by terrorists and "someone dies". Do you agree with him?.
Zuckerberg: He said this in his internal correspondence. I do not agree with him. In our company everyone can express their opinion.
Question: If I do not like my Ford, I can buy a Chevrolet. And if I do not like Facebook, where do I go? Who is your competitor? You are a monopolist.
Zuckerberg: There are different platforms: Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft. We are in many ways overlapping with them. I do not think that Facebook is a monopolist.
Question: Do you think someone reads your user agreement entirely?.
Zuckerberg: It is unlikely that he is usually read. I think we need to offer a more understandable and concise version.
Question: Are you ready to introduce a rule that users will be notified of any hacking of the system within 72 hours?.
Zuckerberg: It seems reasonable. It is necessary to discuss.
Question: Until 2014 your motto was "act fast and break everything around". This is true?.
Zuckerberg: "I do not remember when we changed it, but now the motto is" act quickly with a stable infrastructure ". It's not so smart anymore ».
Q: Facebook constantly blocks users for conservative and ultra-right statements. How many democrats have you blocked? What political views do 20,000 of your moderators have?.
Zuckerberg: I ??understand that it seems to you that there are only representatives of the left-wing views of the Silicon Valley. We do not ask our moderators about political views or the support of political parties.
Question: You already said that you want in the future to automatically block the hate speech. Will it not happen that you start blocking people for their views? For example, you will forbid opponents of abortion to express their opinion.
Zuckerberg: I ??would not like that very much. We must together come up with a system of priorities for the companies to which they should be guided.
Question: Now you decide to check who is placing the political advertisement. But how will you check if it is placed by a shell company? "If it is hosted by a corporation in Delaware, you do not know that the firm is Russian? ".
Zuckerberg: "Yes, senator ... you are right".
Question: If I write something about "Black Panther" in WhatsApp, then I will be shown an advertisement about it?.
Zuckerberg: No. What you write in WhatsApp does not affect advertising.
Question: What are you doing in other countries to prevent the authorities from putting pressure on the opposition?.
Zuckerberg: First of all, we are enlarging the support staff with knowledge of the local language. This is the case, for example, in Myanmar in connection with the harassment of Rohinj. Secondly, in such countries there is usually an active civil society - it helps us to identify those who spread unacceptable content. Thirdly, we intend to increase media literacy.
Q:
Does Facebook use conversation records on mobile devices to make up a portrait of users?.
Zuckerberg: No. You, apparently, talk about the conspiracy theory that we turn on the microphone and use the recording for advertising purposes. This is not true.
Question: You constantly talk about control of the user over information. Do you control it yourself? Is Facebook secure?.
Zuckerberg: I ??believe that Facebook is safe. "I, my family and all the people I love and who are dear to me, always use it".