Zuckerberg spent an absurd amount of time explaining how the internet works in his Senate testimony

Mark Zuckerberg.
(Image credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took center stage Tuesday, testifying before the Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees amid the data privacy controversy that has befallen his company.

Zuckerberg is under intense scrutiny following revelations that Cambridge Analytica, a data firm with ties to President Trump's campaign, improperly obtained and shared personal data from up to 87 million Facebook users. Most senators asked challenging questions in an often tense hearing, probing Zuckerberg as to whether Facebook would be open to more federal regulation or pointing out how Zuckerberg himself values his personal privacy in a way that his social network may not.

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Some questions amounted to little more than senators asking for an explanation of Facebook's basic functions and policies, prompting Zuckerberg to spend a healthy amount of time explaining the internet. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), for example, asked Zuckerberg how Facebook could survive as a business without charging users a fee.

"Senator, we run ads," explained the CEO.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), meanwhile, presented a hypothetical situation in which he enjoys chocolate, but doesn't want to see ads for chocolate on Facebook. If he talks about his love of chocolate, is there any way for him to avoid ads about the delicious sweet? Zuckerberg responded that targeted ads are simply a part of Facebook's basic user agreement — and are commonplace in general on the internet.

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) then wanted to know whether Facebook could track a user's browsing history even when logged out of the site. Zuckerberg provided an explanation of how cookies work on the internet. The hearing lasted more than four hours, as lawmakers took turns questioning the Facebook executive. Zuckerberg will appear before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday.

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Summer Meza, The Week US

Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.