Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in Washington to discuss ‘internet regulation’ with senators

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg is in Washington to meet senators, as the social media giant faces rising scrutiny over its privacy practices.

Zuckerberg is slated to meet policymakers and “talk about future internet regulation,” Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing a statement from Facebook spokesman Andy Stone. The CEO will meet with Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington State and House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff of California, according to Bloomberg sources.

Zuckerberg has already met Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, and other senators on Wednesday night, per the report. Warner had helped organize the dinner “at Facebook’s request.”

It is not clear whether Zuckerberg will discuss the Facebook-led cryptocurrency project Libra with senators. In July, when David Marcus, co-creator of Libra and head of Calibra (a Facebook company), met with lawmakers, Representative Brad Sherman of California questioned why Marcus appeared in Congress in place of Zuckerberg, given the potential magnitude of the Libra project.

Notably, it is Zuckerberg’s first trip to Washington since April 2018, when he met lawmakers on the Cambridge Analytica data scandal.