Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency, Libra, won’t be available anywhere until it passes muster with US regulators, said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in testimony before the Senate Financial Services Committee hearing. “We want to be clear: Facebook will not be a part of launching the Libra payments system anywhere in the world unless all US regulators approve it. And we support Libra delaying its launch until it has fully addressed US regulatory concerns,” said Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg also faced questions about the social media giant allowing the spread of disinformation, like targeting predominantly black zip codes and posting an incorrect election date. “If anyone, including a politician, is saying things that can cause … that is calling for violence, or could risk imminent physical harm, or voter or census suppression, when we roll out the census suppression policy, we will take that content down,” said Zuckerberg. Pressed further by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez about allowing political ads that contain flat-out lies, Zuckerberg responded, “In most cases, in a democracy, I believe that people should be able to see for themselves what politicians that they may or may not vote for are saying and judge their character for themselves.”
In related news, Facebook revealed it found and took down four state-backed misinformation campaigns, three originating from Iran and one of Russia. Facebook said it has updated its inauthentic behavior policy “to further improve our ability to counter new tactics and bad actors,” including permanently removing from platforms organizations organized to conduct manipulation campaigns.
