Mark Zuckerberg May, Personally, Be in Big Trouble With the FTC

The symbolic impact of nailing Zuckerberg himself with penalties is surely more important than money, especially since the 34-year-old has so much of it. Senator Richard Blumenthal, who recently criticized the FTC for taking too long on the Facebook probe, is definitely a fan of holding Zuckerberg accountable. [Zuckerberg] "not just aware of Facebook's invasion of consumer privacy, he signed off on it and publicly downplayed legitimate concerns, ”Blumenthal told The Post. "Holding Mark Zuckerberg and other top Facebook executives at fault and liable for further wrongdoing would send a powerful message to business leaders across the country: You will pay a price for the law and deceiving consumers."

Imagine that: a tech company run by a 21[ads1]st-century emperor of sorts harms its users again and again, and as a result, its leader gets in trouble. Seems like Zuckerberg has been asking for it, too. Here's the full quote from the time Zuck fell on his sword in front of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce almost exactly a year ago, emphasis mine:

But it's clear now we didn't do enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm as well. That goes for 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. I started Facebook. I do not know Zuckerberg really mean that? What if the FTC decided to recommend criminal charges, and the young billionaire faced jail time? There is no indication that this is a possibility. However, as The Post points out in its latest reporting, "Facebook has fought fiercely to shield Zuckerberg as part of the negotiations," and if talks break down, the matter could end up in court.

Picture Mark Zuckerberg in a courtroom . It would be more fascinating than the circus on Capitol Hill, last year, when it stood in front of all those cameras and failed to answer so many questions from lawmakers. It's possible that Zuckerberg really is scared of this FTC thing getting out of hand and possibly leading to bad things happening to him personally. Just a couple of weeks ago, Zuckerberg wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post calling for outside regulation. He also posted the text on his Facebook profile. The second most popular comment reads, "I have faith in you that why I use Facebook."

[Washington Post]