Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg could be facing prison time, if one U.S. senator has his way.
Democrat Ron Wyden (OR) believes that Zuckerberg should be held accountable for lying “to the American people about privacy,” The Washington Examiner reports.
Watch out, Zuckerberg
Wyden’s remarks came in a recent interview with the Oregon-based Willamette Week.
“Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly lied to the American people about privacy,” the senator said. “I think he ought to be held personally accountable, which is everything from financial fines to — and let me underline this — the possibility of a prison term. Because he hurt a lot of people.”
The longtime senator added that such a move would not be unprecedented.
“And, by the way, there is a precedent for this: In financial services, if the CEO and the executives lie about the financials, they can be held personally accountable,” Wyden noted.
An ongoing fight
Wyden seems to have made it a mission of his to take on the mishandling of consumer data that is in the hands of people like Zuckerberg.
In 2018, the senator and his team drafted a piece of legislation that would have put executives who mishandled consumer data behind bars for 10 to 20 years. The bill was never considered by Congress, however.
Zuckerberg, in particular, has been a target of Wyden for Facebook’s privacy lapses. In April of this year, Wyden sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) demanding that Zuckerberg be held accountable.
“Given Mr. Zuckerberg’s deceptive statements, his personal control over Facebook, and his role in approving key decisions related to the sharing of user data, the FTC can and must hold Mr. Zuckerberg personally responsible for these continued violations,” the Democrat wrote. “The FTC must also make clear the significant and material penalties that will apply to both Facebook the corporation and Mr. Zuckerberg the individual should any future violations occur.”
“I’m responsible for what happens here”
For his part, Zuckerberg seems to welcome being held responsible. The New York Times reports that in testimony before Congress in April, the tech mogul admitted: “I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here.”
He also said that he wants more government regulation, according to The Economist. But with the possibility of jail time lingering over the Facebook CEO, Zuckerberg may soon change his mind on that.
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