What to Make of Mark Zuckerberg’s Mea Culpa to Congress
FB Gets Thumbs Down on Apology Tour…
As you may have heard, Facebook’s embattled CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a surprise visit to Capitol Hill on Monday, just one day before his scheduled back-to-back congressional testimony over the social media giant’s pending privacy scandal.
The goal of Zuck’s mission impossible was twofold. First, woo leading lawmakers of the powerful committees for which he’s testifying this week, in the hopes that members of Congress will go easy on him.
And, second, try to turn down the volume on three consecutive weeks of negative news coverage over the harvesting of Facebook users’ personal data by Cambridge Analytica and related privacy issues.
This latest user data controversy has badly damaged Facebook’s brand image, causing stock prices to plummet, demoralizing the workforce, shaking public trust, and leading some longtime loyal users to flee the once promising social media platform.
Zuckerberg’s apology tour is nothing more than a desperate measure at saving face for himself and the mega social media company he founded.
Too Little, Too Late
As someone who once worked in Congress for a former House Majority Leader, I find it highly unlikely that Zuck’s mea culpa will matter much to the congressional committees.
In fact, the last thing Congress wants to hear is another apology tour from Zuckerberg. He sounds like a broken record already.
After hiding from congressional committees for over a decade, it’s doubtful that lawmakers will cut any slack to the boy wonder of Silicon Valley.
Rather, Zuck should expect a barrage of probing and embarrassing questions about why this latest user data breach occurred, why Facebook said nothing about it for two-years, and what FB is doing now to remedy pending privacy problems and protect users’ personal information.
Unfortunately, Zuck’s 11th hour efforts to score “brownie points” with Congress are simply too little, too late after trampling on transparency over and over again with Facebook users, the media and the general public.
The information and images below were prepared by The Washington Post recapping Zuckerberg’s 14-year apology tour…
“14 years of Mark Zuckerberg saying sorry, not sorry”
- “Do you trust Mark Zuckerberg? From the moment the Facebook founder entered the public eye in 2003 for creating a Harvard student hot-or-not rating site, he’s been apologizing.” — Washington Post (WP)
November 2003
After creating Facemash, a Harvard hot-or-not site. — WP
September 2006
After introducing News Feed, which exposed updates to friends in one central place. — WP
December 2007
After launching Beacon, which opted-in everyone to sharing with advertisers what they were doing in outside websites and apps. — WP
February 2009
After unveiling new terms of service that angered users. — WP
May 2010
After reporters found a privacy loophole allowing advertisers to access user identification. — WP
November 2011
After Facebook reached a consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission for deceiving consumers about privacy. — WP
July 2014
After an academic paper exposed that Facebook conducted psychological tests on nearly 700,000 users without their knowledge. (Apology by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg) — WP
- “ It was poorly communicated. … And for that communication we apologize. We never meant to upset you. ”
December 2016
After criticism of the role of Facebook in spreading fake news about political candidates. — WP
- “ I think of Facebook as a technology company, but I recognize we have a greater responsibility than just building technology that information flows through. … Today we’re making it easier to report hoaxes. ”
April 2017
After a Cleveland man posted a video of himself killing 74-year-old Robert Godwin Sr. — WP
- “ Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Robert Godwin Sr., and we have a lot of work — and we will keep ding all we can to prevent tragedies like this from happening. ”
September 2017
While revealing a nine-step plan to stop nations from using Facebook to interfere in one another’s elections, noting that the amount of “problematic content” found so far is “relatively small.” — WP
September 2017
After continued criticism about the role of Facebook in Russian manipulation of the 2016 election. — WP
January 2018
Announcing his personal challenge for the year is to fix Facebook. — WP
March 2018
After details emerged about Cambridge Analytica taking user data. — WP
April 2018
After revealing Cambridge Analytica got unauthorized data on up to 87 million Facebook members — and that nearly all Facebook users may have had their public profile scraped. — WP
April 2018
In prepared comments for his congressional testimony. — WP
Hard Hitting Headlines
Many news outlets have been unforgiving to Zuckerberg in recent days, despite his belated media relations efforts. Following are a sampling of news headlines and excerpts, which don’t bode well for him going forward:
The San Francisco Chronicle:
“Why Mark Zuckerberg Should Step Down as Facebook CEO”
- “There is an increasing consensus in Washington, in Silicon Valley and around the world that something dramatic — something more than the flurry of announcements and privacy settings updates and crackdowns on developers — needs to be done.”
The Financial Times
“Mark Zuckerberg’s Willful Blindness to Facebook’s Darkside”
- “Zuckerberg still sounds like a man betrayed by his own Facebook friends…As Facebook’s trials have deepened, Zuckerberg, by contrast, has become entangled in the utopian idea that he leads a global community.”
Politico:
“6 questions Zuckerberg still hasn’t answered”
- “Zuckerberg and Facebook have still left a lot unexplained, however — including what they knew, when they knew it and why their 2.2 billion users should trust the company’s privacy promises now.”
Gizmodo:
“Here’s a Bingo Card to Play While Mark Zuckerberg Spews Bullshit on Capitol Hill”
- “He’s reportedly been getting lots of coaching from normal humans, so we can expect a lot of canned answers pulled from Facebook’s greatest hits. To help you navigate the proceedings we’ve gamified the experience.”
The New York Times:
“Zuckerberg Gets a Crash Course in Charm, will Congress Care?”
- “Ahead of Mr. Zuckerberg’s trip to Washington, Facebook has hired a team from the law firm WilmerHale as well as outside consultants to coach him on questions lawmakers may ask, and on how to pace his answers and react if interrupted.”
Final Thoughts
I’m reminded of the old adage: “The bigger they come, the harder they fall.”
But the real question is not just whether Zuckerberg will fall on his face, but whether Facebook is too big to fail?
If nothing else, Zuckerberg’s congressional testimony is must-see TV in front of members of Congress and the white hot glare of the media spotlight.
Consider some other significant questions that might be answered as a result of Zuckerberg’s performance on Capitol Hill this week:
- What does the foreseeable future hold for Facebook?
- Will Zuckerberg ultimately survive, much less thrive, as CEO?
- Will American social media companies face new government regulations regarding data collection and user privacy?
These are historic hearings of Congress which are long overdue in scrutinizing social media in general, and Facebook in particular.
Meanwhile, Zuck’s apology tour continues on Capitol Hill.
What’s at stake? Only the future of Zuckerberg as CEO, the future of Facebook, and the future of American-based social media companies being regulated by the federal government.
And regarding his apology tour on Capitol Hill, Zuck and Facebook get a big thumbs down!
DBG
You also might like…
- How Mark Zuckerberg Got Schooled in Crisis Communications
- Media Relations 101: Why Transparency Always Triumphs
- Social Media Secrets Posthumously from Dale Carnegie
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: David is a strategic communications consultant, freelance writer and former federal government spokesman based in the Washington, DC-area. His work experience includes the White House, Congress, OMB and EEOC. A native New Yorker, David was a journalist prior to his career of public service. You can also find him on Twitter and LinkedIn.
NOTE: All views and opinions are those of the author only and not official statements or endorsements of any public sector employer, private sector employer, organization or political entity.
