WASHINGTON — Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, raised concerns about over-regulating and offered Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg a "softball" starter question at a hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, only to be rebuffed on both accounts.
Sullivan took the latter with a sense of humor, handing Zuckerberg what he felt was the correct answer. Another senator also revealed at the hearing that Sullivan's family was inexplicably used in a fake Facebook profile.
"Quite a story, right — dorm room to the global behemoth that you guys are. Only in America, would you agree with that?" Sullivan said at the start of his questioning.
"Senator, mostly in America," Zuckerberg replied.
"You couldn't do this in China, right?" Sullivan prodded.
Zuckerberg wasn't biting. "Well, Senator, there are some very strong Chinese internet companies," he said.
"Right, but you're supposed to answer yes to this question," Sullivan said, drawing laughter to his exasperation from the packed hearing room. "OK, come on, I'm trying to help you."
"This is a softball," Zuckerberg said.
"The answer is yes, OK?" Sullivan said.
[Zuckerberg tells Congress 'we didn't do enough' to prevent privacy crises that rock Facebook]
Sullivan's turn came several hours into a more than five-hour hearing on Facebook's privacy standards and interactions with political firm Cambridge Analytica. It was a joint hearing of two committees — one on the judiciary and the other on commerce, science and transportation, on which Sullivan sits. Senators were granted five minutes each, in order of seniority.
After a bit of humor, Sullivan questioned Zuckerberg on the scope of Facebook's power, how they might react to federal regulations, and how he sees the company and its subsequent responsibilities — as a technology company or a publisher.
"Do you think you're too powerful?" Sullivan asked, noting Facebook's 2 billion users and $40 billion in revenue.
The Facebook chief executive didn't quite answer. He noted, instead, that "the vast majority of those 2 billion people are outside of the U.S. And I think that is something — to your point — that Americans should be proud of. And when I brought up the Chinese companies, I think that that's a real strategic and competitive threat that an American technology policy should be thinking about."
Sullivan also questioned Zuckerberg on his stance toward regulation. While it is not likely close at hand, the Facebook hearings in Congress this week are seen by many as the start of a conversation about the government's role in internet privacy.
"When companies become big and powerful, and accumulate a lot of wealth and power, what typically happens from this body is there's an instinct to either regulate or break up, right? … Do you have any thoughts on those two policy approaches?" Sullivan asked.
"Well, Senator, I'm not the type of person who thinks that all regulation is bad," Zuckerberg said. It is not a question about whether to regulate, but how, he said.
But Sullivan said he worries that regulating could have a negative impact on competition. A company of Facebook's size and power would no doubt influence regulations to its own advantage, he said. "You have a lot of lobbyists. I think every lobbyist in town is involved in this hearing somehow," he said.
The next kid in a dorm room with an idea might be shut out, Sullivan said.
Zuckerberg disagreed, in part, claiming that his company would not take that approach to shaping regulations.
But he did agree to the point that any regulation could make it harder for a startup company.
The "challenge with regulation in general is that when you add more rules that companies need to follow, that's something that a larger company like ours just inherently has the resources to go do and that might just be harder for a smaller company just getting started to comply with," Zuckerberg said.
Sullivan also questioned Zuckerberg on how the company sees itself, to which the mogul said he sees Facebook as a tech company, but one with responsibility for what is published on the platform.
Sullivan himself was the victim of some suspicious Facebook content earlier in the day, according to another senator on the panel.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., discovered that a fake Facebook profile had been set up in his name.
"I woke up this morning and was notified by a whole group of friends across the country asking if I had a new family or if there was a fake Facebook page of Chris Coons," Coons said at the hearing.
"I went to the one they suggested; it had a different middle initial than mine — and there's my picture, with Sen. Dan Sullivan's family," he said.
"It had my schools, but a whole lot of Russian friends," Coons said.
"Dan Sullivan's got a very attractive family, by the way," Coons added.
"We can keep that for the record there, Mr. Chairman," Sullivan interjected.
Sullivan is married and has three daughters.