Rep. Maxine Waters has some questions for Mark Zuckerberg—and so do Republicans
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Gettyplan to launch a new cryptocurrency isn’t going over well in Congress, where lawmakers have adopted a harder line against Facebook over its handling of privacy issues and its role in Russia’s election interference. Rep.chair of the House Financial Services Committee, called on the social media giant on Tuesday to put a hold on Libra until regulators could vet the maneuver.
. “Given the company’s troubled past, I am requesting that Facebook agree to a moratorium on any movement forward on developing a cryptocurrency until Congress and regulators have the opportunity to examine these issues and take action.”that it will partner with 27 other companies—from fellow tech companies like Uber to established financial services corporations like Mastercard—to launch Libra in 2020.
That didn’t go unnoticed by lawmakers who, like Waters, are aiming to rein Facebook in. “Facebook is already too big and too powerful, and it has used that power to exploit users’ data without protecting their privacy,” Sen.following the Libra announcement. “We cannot allow Facebook to run a risky new cryptocurrency out of a Swiss bank account without oversight.”
Waters, who has increased scrutiny of Facebook and other tech companies since assuming the chairmanship, said in her statement Tuesday that the cryptocurrency market “currently lacks a clear regulatory framework to provide strong protections for investors, consumers, and the economy”—and suggested that Facebook, with its patchy record, could exploit or otherwise misuse those gaps in regulation.
A Facebook representative told CNBC that the company “[looks] forward to responding to lawmakers’ questions as this process moves forward,” suggesting that it would be open to such a hearing.
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