Facebook Can't Solve This Problem Alone

Facebook Can’t Solve This Problem Alone Even Mark Zuckerberg says more social media regulation is inevitable—and desirable. But will new rules shore up today’s giants, or tear them apart?

- Aaron Pressman

TECHNOLOGY MARK ZUCKERBERG came to Washington, D.C., to testify before Congress for the first time, trading his customary grey T-shirt for a snappy, hearing appropriate suit and armed with a litany of well-rehearsed talking points.

Throughout two days of Q&A, the Facebook CEO apologised repeatedly for the massive misuse of 87 million users’ personal data. Some lawmakers came off sounding like buffoons, and the glib verdict rendered Zuckerberg the winner. Wall Street certainly agreed, sending Facebook’s stock up 6% over the two days of hearings.

But as Zuckerberg’s testimony recedes into memory, its ultimate impact is just beginning to be felt. The Cambridge Analytica affair will likely be remembered as the beginning of a larger reckoning. As even Zuckerberg has said, new regulation is “inevitable”. The question now isn’t whether today’s Internet giants are impacted, it’s how profoundly.