The biggest tech news this week was Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony before the U.S. Congress. Zuckerberg was called in front of both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee, in response to the news that Cambridge Analytica had stolen data from about 87 million Facebook users. The New York Times clocked the meetings in at a total of ten hours.
Congressional leaders hit Zuckerberg with hundreds of questions, mostly about Facebook’s data-collecting and targeted advertising practices. Reviews of the testimony have been mixed. Some point to the apparent lack of tech knowledge in Congress, with questions like one from Sen. Lindsey Graham, asking “Is Twitter the same as what you do?”; or point a finger at Zuckerberg for question-dodging answers. Either way, Facebook is now under more scrutiny than ever. After his time on Capitol Hill, the Facebook founder was called to Brussels, where the European Parliament wants to ask him similar questions.
When asked about what can be done to combat fake news spread via Facebook, Zuckerberg suggested that AI can help by flagging potential hate speech and misinformation. AIWS also believes that artificial intelligence can be a powerful tool in combating fake news. At the same time, we also believe in the responsible management of online data and encourage everyone to follow our Ethical Code of Conduct for Cyber Peace and Security.
