Heres what went down.
What was this hearing about?
Real quick, whats Libra again?
Facebook announced it this June and wants to launch it in 2020.
Its technically not just Facebooks.
Plus Facebook entirely owns Calibra, a digital wallet for holding your Libra coins.
What a confusing combination of names!
What happened up to now?
Since Facebook announced it this June, things havent gone well.
Zuckerberg spent today in that world.
Previously, the Financial Services committee questioned David Marcus, CEO of Calibra.
Zuckerberg hastestified before other Congressional committeesbefore, but this is his first hearing since Facebook announced Libra.
But this statement, as several representatives pointed out today, is more ambiguous than it sounds.
Whats the governments problem with Libra?
Would that make Facebook a bank?
The governmentor at least the Democrats on the committee, plus some Republicansand Donald Trumpthink so.
They believe Facebook is trying to avoid the regulations that govern existing financial institutions.
What happened at the hearing?
The entire five-hour hearing, led by committee chair Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), is on videohere.
Ill break it down in slightly less than five hours.
Lets talk about the Libra discussion first.
Is Facebook competing with the government?
Facebook says they want to be regulated, but by whom?
Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) asked Zuckerberg if a Calibra wallet is like a bank account.
Were not a bank, Zuck replied.
Were not applying for a bank charter.
Perlmutter interrupted: Thats the problem!
Zuckerberg calls Libra a payment system.
Several representatives dont see it that way: Why not just make a coin that fully follows the dollar?
What do they care?
Because it threatens the dollars supremacy.
Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Penn.)
called Libra a shadow currency that would operate more like a government.
When people buy Libra coins, theyre handing over their local currency.
Facebook would be heavily invested in the success of Venezuela, and vice versa.
What happens, he says, if Facebook becomes too big to fail?
Unlike Google and Apple, it does not operate in China.)
Is Facebook in charge of Libra?
Representatives kept insisting thatoh come on, we all know youre in charge.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.)
Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) said Zuckerberg could move the association to the U.S. if he wanted.
Cute, but not really a rebuttal.
Youve done no effort to help the unbanked anywhere else, at any other time.
You should, you should create a payment system with a close-to-zero fee.
Zuckerberg said multiple times that Libra isnt primarily about making money for Facebook.
But it doesnt really matter if thats true.
Facebooks Calibra plans to avoid feesbut thats because its a loss leader.
Its become obvious that a free valuable digital service will have other, more insidious costs.
What Congress fears is that Libra will be worse for the world than transaction fees.
Why are all these questions from Democrats?
Republican representatives were a lot friendlier to Zuckerberg.
(Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, R-Oh., rejected this Libra vs. China framing.)
And theyre the ones with the resources to kindly bestow this gift upon the world.
They underserve the poor, except to squeeze more money out of them.
tried to cover for him.
Even the Republicans support was trying to frame Libra as not so big a deal.
Republicans did have some issues, but these frequently spilled outside the discussion of Libra.
What happened besides Libra?
This is where Republicans were more worried.
Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fl.)
asked why Facebook was censoring posts on the dangers of vaccinations.
(Its not.)
In other words, Florida Man Goes Anti-Vax.
The committee was not pleased.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez put it best when she asked specifically which lies she could tell in political ads.
Zuck mumbled, I think probably.
The hearings stated scope included housing discrimination violations, and these were not neglected.
He said it didnt seem like a good use of his time.
Also Zuck asked Maxine Waters for a pee break.
What will happen now?
Regulators are working with old statutes.
Maybe some people will be better off that way.
