Seven years in the past, Mark Zuckerberg, the chief govt of Meta, testified for the first time in Congress. After a two-week boot camp by his attorneys to prep him, he answered questions in three back-to-back-to-back hearings over two days in a baptism by fireplace.
Mr. Zuckerberg, 40, has had much more follow since then. He has appeared earlier than Congress eight occasions and testified in court docket at the very least twice, greater than any of his friends on the greatest tech corporations. He has defended his firm, beforehand referred to as Fb, on points reminiscent of privateness, child safety and the spread of disinformation.
Mr. Zuckerberg on Monday once more took the recent seat, this time because the marquee witness within the Federal Trade Commission’s landmark lawsuit accusing Meta of breaking antitrust legislation. Regulators sued the corporate within the U.S. District Courtroom for the District of Columbia over its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, saying it used a “buy-or-bury technique” to keep up a monopoly in social media.
Mr. Zuckerberg’s flip as a serial witness has change into a potent image of Washington’s rising frustration with the ability held by Silicon Valley, fueling makes an attempt to rein within the tech trade. Below President Trump, tech chief executives have cozied up to the administration in hopes that regulators will take a softer hand, however to this point his appointees have signaled continued scrutiny.
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers have railed at Mr. Zuckerberg, accusing him of mendacity and having private duty for numerous societal harms. Earlier robust questioning might assist him throughout his anticipated seven hours of testimony defending Meta within the antitrust trial, authorized specialists stated.
“He appears to be far more conscious of the audiences he’s chatting with in comparison with his earlier years,” stated Adam Sterling, affiliate dean at Stanford Legislation Faculty. “Whether or not it’s a deposition or a lawsuit or in entrance of the Senate, he can truly craft the message to the recipients of it.”
Meta and the F.T.C. declined to remark.
It’s a far cry from Mr. Zuckerberg’s begin in a Harvard dorm room 21 years in the past. After constructing “The Fb,” he dropped out of college and moved to Silicon Valley to construct the social community. His successes and failures have been publicly scrutinized.
In 2021, he renamed the corporate Meta, an effort to shed among the firm’s baggage. He has not too long ago courted Mr. Trump, together with visiting the White Home this month to attempt to persuade the president and his aides to settle the F.T.C.’s go well with.
The federal government scrutiny and authorized challenges haven’t inflicted lasting wounds on the corporate. Meta’s inventory value has greater than doubled since Mr. Zuckerberg’s first look in Congress.
Mr. Zuckerberg is prone to face a extra grueling time on the stand on the antitrust trial, authorized specialists stated. Congressional hearings function grandstanding by lawmakers, and they’re restricted to a couple minutes every. F.T.C. attorneys plan to grill Mr. Zuckerberg for hours. In addition they have a trove of his emails and different communications and plan to ask him to defend the paperwork that they are saying show his firm’s unwell intentions.
“A trial is a special beast since opposing counsel will probably be properly ready, ask higher questions and keep centered on their case,” stated Nu Wexler, a former coverage official for Meta and a principal for 4 Corners Public Affairs.
In 2017, Mr. Zuckerberg testified in Dallas in a trial over mental property theft claims by a online game firm, ZeniMax Media. He additionally testified in San Jose, Calif., in 2023 throughout an F.T.C. trial to block Meta’s acquisition of the digital actuality firm Inside.
This time, the F.T.C. is asking Decide James E. Boasberg to search out Meta responsible of antitrust violations, so there’s “much more at stake,” stated Katie Harbath, a former public coverage director for Meta and the chief govt of Anchor Change, a consulting agency.
For the primary half of Meta’s historical past, Mr. Zuckerberg shied away from unscripted public appearances. In 2010, he fumbled an interview at a know-how convention by struggling to reply to questions on privateness as beads of sweat ran down his face.
Most of his public witness expertise has come earlier than Congress.
Mr. Zuckerberg confronted an infinite backlash from Washington lawmakers after the 2016 presidential election. Stories surfaced that Facebook had given Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting agency, entry to folks’s social networking information with out their consent.
That led to Mr. Zuckerberg’s look at packed hearings in Congress in April 2018. His attorneys coached him to remain calm when interrupted and to postpone solutions to exhausting questions, in accordance with Meta workers conversant in the briefings.
“My staff will get again to you,” he stated a number of occasions on the hearings.
The following yr, Mr. Zuckerberg confronted questions from the Home Monetary Companies Committee on the safety and security of the corporate’s plans for a cryptocurrency called Libra.
Consultant Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, requested Mr. Zuckerberg about misinformation in political ads and interrupted him. He winced often and at occasions struggled to search out solutions.
Consultant Maxine Waters of California, the Democratic chair of the committee on the time, accused Mr. Zuckerberg of placing the corporate’s fortunes forward its customers.
“You’re prepared to step on anybody — your opponents, girls and folks of shade, even our democracy,” Ms. Waters stated.
“I get that I’m not the perfect messenger for this proper now,” Mr. Zuckerberg replied. “We actually have work to do to construct belief.”
Mr. Zuckerberg did higher in his subsequent two appearances, authorized specialists and former workers stated, exhibiting extra polish and management of his solutions. He and the chiefs of Apple, Amazon and Google have been summoned in 2020 through the pandemic for a Home Judiciary Committee listening to on the ability of Large Tech. In 2021, joined by the chief executives of Twitter and Google, Mr. Zuckerberg spoke to a Home committee about disinformation.
Final yr, Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, demanded throughout a baby security listening to that Mr. Zuckerberg apologize to folks who had misplaced their youngsters to bullying and different harms that Fb and Instagram have been accused of fueling.
“I’m sorry for all the pieces you may have all been via,” Mr. Zuckerberg stated to folks who attended. “Nobody ought to undergo the issues that your households have suffered.”
Mr. Hawley stated it was vital to carry Meta and Mr. Zuckerberg accountable.
“This was my complete aim, to pressure a second of fact,” Mr. Hawley stated in an interview. “However the fact can also be that he retains crusing proper on forward and can accomplish that till there are actual penalties from Congress and within the trial subsequent week.”
