Facebook Inc CEO Mark Zuckerberg conceded that the company’s planned digital currency Libra was a risky project, but sought to reassure skeptical United States’ lawmakers that it could lower the cost of electronic payments and open up the global financial system to more people.
Sporting a suit and tie, Zuckerberg also fended off aggressive questions on election interference, free speech, hate groups and fake news from members of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee.
Nevertheless, Representative Maxine Waters, the panel’s fiery Democratic chair, quizzed Zuckerberg on Facebook’s steps to combat misinformation and voter suppression ahead of the November 2020 U.S. presidential election and suggested policymakers should consider breaking up Facebook.
Waters had previously called for halting the Libra project before its planned 2020 launch, and has drafted legislation that would bar tech companies from entering financial services.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike blasted Facebook for failing to crack down on online child exploitation and political misinformation, and for data privacy lapses.
Meanwhile, several said they did not trust Facebook to help provide financial services to its 2.4 billion users given the past scandals.
Source – REUTERS
