Regulation of social media ‘inevitable’: Zuckerberg

Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg testifies during a US House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing about Facebook on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, 11 April 2018. AFP
Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg testifies during a US House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing about Facebook on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, 11 April 2018. AFP

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said Wednesday that regulation of social media companies is inevitable, but warned that rules could also hamper the industry’s growth.

“The internet is growing in importance around the world in people’s lives, and I think that it is inevitable that there will need to be some regulation,” he told a hearing in Congress.

“But I think you have to be careful about putting regulation in place. A lot of times regulations put in place rules that a company that is larger, that has resources like ours, can easily comply with, but that might be more difficult for a smaller startup company.”