Blumenthal Statement on Joint Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees Hearing with Facebook CEO

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) released the following statement after Senate Committee on the Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) announced a hearing titled “Facebook, Social Media Privacy, and the Use and Abuse of Data,” on April 10, 2018. Mark Zuckerberg, the Chief Executive Officer of Facebook, will be the hearing’s only witness.

“I’m glad Mr. Zuckerberg has agreed to face the music. His company has shamelessly shredded the privacy rights of its users,” Blumenthal said. “Just today, Facebook admitted that the personal data of most of its 2 billion users had been compromised by ‘malicious actors’ over the last several years. This hearing is a good first step towards instituting some vitally necessary rules of the road for Big Tech.”

Blumenthal is a member of both the Judiciary and Commerce Committees. He also serves as the Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security.