5 Things To Know: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's Testimony

MENLO PARK, CA — Congress has released a transcript of prepared testimony that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to deliver ahead of a hearing on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Zuckerberg is scheduled to appear before a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees. A day later he's slated to appear before the House Energy and Committee Committee on Wednesday.

A transcript of Zuckerberg's planned remarks indicates he takes at least some responsibility for allowing bad actors to exploit the site he created while a student at Harvard University. He said it's clear to him now that "we didn't do enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm," including the prevalence of so-called fake news, foreign interference in elections and hate speech, as well as developers and data privacy.

"We didn't take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake. It was my mistake, and I'm sorry," the transcript states. "I started Facebook, I run it, and I'm responsible for what happens here."

Zuckerberg's remarks echo similar sentiments shared by the company's chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, who told NBC she expects Facebook will find more personal data breaches as it digs into the activities of other independent data providers.

“We cared about privacy all along but I think we got the balance wrong,” she said.

Facebook is building tools and wants ensure they're used for good, Zuckerberg says. Facebook has a greater responsibility than just connecting people and the social media giant must ensure those connections are positive, he added.

“It's not enough to just give people a voice, we have to make sure people aren't using it to hurt people or spread misinformation,” Zuckerberg says.

Here are five things to know about Zuckerberg’s statement.

1. Facebook will go further to protect peoples’ data. Facebook gives people tools to control their data, but Zuckerberg says his company must ensure developers are protecting the data they receive from his company. This includes removing developers' access to a users’ data if that person hasn’t used the developer’s app in three months.It also means limiting the amount of data a user gives an app when that individual approves it.

2. Facebook’s security team knew about “traditional Russian cyber threats” such as hacking and malware for years. In fact, leading up to the 2016 general election, Facebook said it detected and handled “several threats” associated with Russia, such as activity by a group that the U.S. government had publicly linked to Russian military intelligence services.

3. About 126 million people over two years could’ve seen content from a Russian-linked troll farm. That Facebook estimate was for content from a Facebook Page associated with the “Internet Research Agency,” a Russian agency that “acted deceptively and tried to manipulate people” in the U.S and abroad. On Instagram, the company estimates an additional 20 million people likely saw similar content.

4. Facebook will try to prevent future abuse. Facebook is building new technology to keep abuse from happening again, including preventing nation states from meddling in other countries’ elections. The company has developed advanced artificial intelligence tools to remove fake accounts and says the tools have already shown promise in elections in France, Germany and Alabama.

5. Facebook will make political ads more transparent. Every advertiser who wants to run political or issue ads must be authorized and confirm their identity and location. Those entities will be labeled as such and will have to disclose who paid for the ads.

You can read the entire transcript here.

Photo credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images