Jack Ma asks Zuckerberg to 'fix' Facebook
Beijing, April 10: Jack Ma, founder and chairman of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, has asked Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to "fix" the social networking giant that is mired in data breach controversy.
Attending the Boao Forum for Asia annual conference, which runs from April 8 to 11, Ma told delegates that Zuckerberg should "really take it seriously".
"It is the time to fix it. It is the time for the CEO to really take it seriously. I think the problems will be solved," Ma said.
Zuckerberg told Congress in written testimony on Monday that he was "responsible for" not preventing the social media platform from being used for harm, including fake news, foreign interference in elections and hate speech.
"We didn't take a broad enough view of our responsibility and that was a big mistake," Xinhua news agency quoted Zuckerburg as saying in a prepared testimony released by the US House Energy and Commerce Committee.
"It was my mistake, and I'm sorry. I started Facebook, I run it and I'm responsible for what happens here," he said in the remarks he is expected to deliver in a hearing on Wednesday.
His apology came after the social media giant found itself embroiled in a widening scandal that a British data firm called Cambridge Analytica had improperly gathered detailed Facebook information on 87 million users.
On US-China trade war, Ma said it was normal for the world's two biggest economies to have problems with trade, but tackling them with a trade war is just like treating a flu with chemotherapies.
"You are not solving the problem of the cold, you are destroying the whole body, the whole system," Ma made the comment while attending a dinner with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde.
Ma said that trade is about mutual respect and that nobody can stop globalisation.
"Trade is about rules and negotiations. If trade stops, war starts," he said.
Speaking of the US-China trade deficit, Ma dismissed the issue as a problem, citing economic growth and a low jobless rate in the US as well as huge profit made by US firms in the bilateral trade.
"Today as a businessman, I don't feel that trade deficit is a problem," he said.
For her part, Lagarde also warned of the risk of temptation for inward policies, protectionism and closing off to the outside world.
She suggested reducing trade barriers in the service industry where there is "a big, big upside" in promoting openness.
The executive also cautioned challenges to the global economy, including corporate debt and demographic change, saying that "the sun is shining, but we have to look at the cloud arising".
Globalisation has not been inclusive enough in the past decades, but there are ways to fix it, Ma said.
He also said the world is facing a lot of challenges from poverty, environment and technology, noting that innovation is the only way to solve these challenges and problems.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
