Skip to content

Sen. Roy Blunt wanted to sound tech-literate by shoving a bunch of buzzwords at Zuckerberg

In 2018, during a hearing with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg that took place in the fallout of the Cambridge Analytica reports, the big man at Facebook was supposed to reckon with the platform’s policies on data privacy. Instead, it featured several old men who had very little idea how social media like Facebook even operates.

Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt first revealed his family is a big fan of the Zuck, saying “My son Charlie, who’s 13, is dedicated to Instagram, so he’d want to be sure I mention him while I was here with you.”

He also revealed he had printed his Facebook profile address on his business card. Not only that, but the man tried and failed to get a grasp of how Facebook collects user data, specifically offline data. The confused Zuckerberg tried to offer a follow-up later, but Blunt continued.

“Do you track devices that an individual who uses Facebook has that is connected to the device that they use for their Facebook connection, but not necessarily connected to Facebook?” the congressman said.

Zuckerberg was confused by the stuttering response. Blunt went on to ask questions about cross-device tracking but did not seem to have a basic grasp of what was even being discussed.

The fallout from Cambridge Analytica is still ongoing, but Zuckerberg and others have managed to escape a good amountof liability.

Related Articles