Zuckerberg to be grilled by U.S Congress

Mark Zuckerberg

CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg

Chief executive of Facebook Inc, Mark Zuckerberg will be grilled by lawmakers over the company’s plan to launch a digital currency and efforts to prevent foreign election interference when he appears before a Congressional panel on Wednesday.

Libra, Facebook’s digital currency project, has faltered in recent weeks amid sustained criticism from lawmakers and regulators over fears it may aid money laundering and upend the global financial system.

That political heat has led several of its key financial partners including Mastercard, Visa, PayPal and eBay to abandon the project.

Zuckerberg will try to reassure skeptical lawmakers on the House Financial Services Committee that the project will meet strict regulatory standards, poses no threat to sovereign currencies, and will steer well clear of the monetary policy arena, according to prepared testimony released Tuesday.

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He is also likely to be quizzed on the company’s steps to combat misinformation and voter suppression ahead of the November 2020 U.S. presidential election.

The company disclosed on Monday it had removed a network of Russian accounts targeting U.S. voters on Instagram, which Facebook owns.

“If Mr. Zuckerberg wants to be king, he can be king of the social networks. But I don’t want him to have the additional arsenal of financial data on people,” Rep. Sylvia Garcia, a Democrat from Texas who sits on the committee told reporters on Tuesday.

She added: “We’re prepared for an interesting hearing tomorrow.”

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