Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook is not a monopoly

Washington, United States | AFP | Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told lawmakers Tuesday that he does not believe his company is a monopoly.

Zuckerberg rejected the suggestion in a Senate hearing that the social media giant, with over two billion users worldwide, has exclusive control over its market.

“It certainly doesn’t feel like that to me,” he said when asked by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham if he thinks Facebook has a monopoly.

“The average American uses eight different apps to communicate with their friends and stay in touch with people. Ranging from texting apps to e-mail,” he said.

Google, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon all do some of the things that Facebook does, he told Graham.

But Zuckerberg, under attack for leaks of the personal data of tens of millions of users, said he was open to some government regulation.

“My position is not that there should be no regulation,” he told the panel.

“I think the real question as the internet becomes more important in people’s lives is what is the right regulation,” he said.

He said he was willing to work with Congress on what types of regulation would be necessary for the social media industry, pointing to Europe, where there are tighter rules on companies harvesting and marketing user data.

“I think they get things right,” he said of the Europeans.