Politics
REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Tough times for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
- In an interview conducted last summer, Zuckerberg talked to Freakonomics host Stephen Dubner about user privacy and sharing data.
- Zuckerberg said the right balance to strike is when the social media giant is "getting yelled at by both sides equally."
- Facebook seems to have accomplished that with the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Facebook has come under intense fire over the way it handles user data after reports that the social media giant let Cambridge Analytica, a data firm linked to President Donald Trump's campaign, harvest the personal information of over 50 million users in 2016.
The company has seen billions wiped off its stock over the scandal, with celebrities pushing the #deletefacebook movement. Mark Zuckerberg, the company's embattled CEO, has been called to testify before Congress on data privacy.
In a portentous interview on the Freakonomics podcast - conducted last summer but airing on Monday - host Stephen Dubner touched on a question that would come to dominate Zuckerberg's life just a few months later.
Dubner asked Zuckerberg whether there are people who want the social media giant to "share much more data" about users.
"So there are certain people who want us to share more information, and then there are a lot of people who really don't," Zuckerberg said.
"I find that the right place to be is when you're getting yelled at from both sides equally," Zuckerberg said. The 33-year-old CEO is now taking serious heat from all corners.
Before the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke, Zuckerberg also told Dubner that user privacy was "extremely important" to how Facebook operates.
"People engage and share their content and feel free to connect because they know that their privacy is going to be protected," Zuckerberg added.
As the #deletefacebook movement gains steam, it remains to be seen how much users are willing to keep sharing.