Mark Zuckerberg apologises for data debacle, says ready to testify
San Francisco: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has apologised for the data debacle that has upended the social media giant and said he was ready to testify before Congress, a media report said.
"The short answer is I'm happy to if it's the right thing to do," Zuckerberg said in a CNN interview on Wednesday night.
"What we try to do is send the person at Facebook who will have the most knowledge. If that's me, then I am happy to go," he added.
Although Facebook employs a small army of lawyers and lobbyists in Washington, Zuckerberg himself has never testified before a congressional committee.
Politicians have called for Zuckerberg to testify before their legislative bodies in the five days since the Cambridge Analytica scandal erupted.
The data firm, which has ties to President Donald Trump's campaign, reportedly accessed information from about 50 million Facebook users without their knowledge, CNN reported.
Facebook has said that the data was initially collected by a professor for academic purposes in line with its rules. The information was later transferred to third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, in violation of Facebook's policies.
Zuckerberg also expressed regret for not doing more to take action against Cambridge Analytica when the issue came to the company's attention in 2015.
"We need to make sure we don't make that mistake ever again," he told CNN.
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Telangana: Teen rape victims pass Class 10 exam, aspire to join police
Hyderabad (PTI): Demonstrating remarkable grit and determination in the face of severe trauma, two minor rape victims in Telangana have recently passed the Class 10 examination with flying colours, results of which were recently announced in the state. The journey of younger girl (aged 15) is extremely shocking as she was raped by her own father in 2023.
This was discovered when her grandmother took her to a hospital when she complained of stomach pain, where doctors found out that she was pregnant.
To make matters worse, her pregnancy could not be aborted as it was in an advanced stage. She delivered a baby in the ninth month, M Mahender Reddy, a police officer, who dealt with both cases, told PTI recently.
The baby was admitted to an orphanage and the girl continued her education, he added.
Despite these tribulations, she passed the class X standard examination with a 5.6 GPA (grade point average).
The father was handed out a conviction with life imprisonment by the court which also awarded a compensation of Rs 15 lakh to the girl, Reddy said.
The other girl (aged 16) was raped by her uncle, Reddy said. She secured an impressive 9.3 GPA in the class X standard exams.
In view of the heinous crime committed by her uncle, the girl's relatives stayed away from the family.
However, they congratulated her after her success in the X standard exam, he said.
Interestingly, both the girls now aspire to become police officers as their fear of police has vanished after they were helped by the Meerpet police station to get justice.
Reddy, who earlier served as SHO of Meerpet police station, said the woman constables and other police personnel handled the case with a humane approach.
Apart from helping the victims, Reddy said the police personnel went beyond the call of duty and tried to instill courage in their minds without confining themselves to the case requirements.
The police personnel also encouraged them to pursue their education, he added.
