Why Libra Isn't Ready and Congress Not Buying Zuckerberg's Testimony

Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg returned to Capitol Hill to testify before Congress on Oct. 23 about the company's planned use of the cryptocurrency it is backing, Libra, attempting to debunk the voluminous number of concerns surrounding Facebook's regulatory measures.

Should Facebook be broken up?A shocking question to askor is it? While it's no surprise that Zuckerberg faced a hostile line of questioning from Congress, one of the more surprising comments came from the Democratic Representative from California, Maxine Waters, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee.

With the ongoing scrutiny surrounding the company's data collection methods and internal security protocols, Congress is not only concerned about the consumer digital footprint, but also Facebook's entire footprint.

Facebook has no business in the digital money space yetZuckerberg's belief that he doesn't control The Libra Association should be laid to rest, as this is nothing more than willful ignorance toward the reality lying before Facebook - it needs to take accountability for its data collection policies and past conduct before it can even begin to think about expanding into the digital money space.

While Zuckerberg indicated in his prepared statement to Congress that, "[Facebook] support[s] Libra delaying its launch until it has fully addressed U.S. regulatory concerns," lawmakers still need to recognize that before it can address Facebook's cryptocurrency project, it needs to see statistical and numerical proof on how the company has responded to the Federal Trade Commission's recent settlement-order following the investigation into the company's data security practices.

Let's just face facts here - Facebook just isn't ready to take on the world of digital currency - and evidently, seven of its 28 original partners and former advocates of the project, including PayPal, Mastercard, Visa, and eBay also agree with this sentiment, having recently dropped out of Libra's payment program.

When asked questions about Facebook's role with Libra, Zuckerberg continued to emphasize his independence from the Libra Association, "I don't control The Libra Association," he shared with Congress.

As for Facebook's data privacy measures, users are expected to abide by voluminous provisions in the company's Terms of Service but have little to no control or remedy available to them by the company.

Having a regulation that requires all social media companies of a certain size to appoint a content moderator that is responsible for the ultimate management of content across a universal spectrum is the next step in Congress' attempt at regulating a company like Facebook.

Now, it will be interesting to see whether Project Libra is delayed or disassembled - either way, Congress needs to seriously step it up with either making an example of Facebook or redefining law and regulation for social media giants.