The Washington Post - 24.10.2019

A18 EZ RE T H E  W A S H I N G T O N  P O S T.T H U R S D A Y , O C T O B E R  2 4,  2 0 1 9

BY TONY ROMM

Congressional lawmakers de-
livered a broad lashing of Face-
book chief executive Mark Zuck-
erberg on Wednesday, sniping at
his company’s plans to launch a
digital currency, its pockmarked
track record on privacy and diver-
sity, and its struggles to prevent
the spread of misinformation.
The wide-ranging criticisms
came largely from Democrats
during a hearing of the House
Financial Services Committee,
which convened the session to
probe Facebook’s plan to launch a
cryptocurrency, called Libra.
Facebook’s efforts have catalyzed
a rare alignment of opposition
from the party’s members of Con-
gress and some Trump adminis-
tration officials, who are con-
cerned Libra could trouble the
global financial system.
Quickly, though, the hearing
expanded in focus, reflecting the
simmering frustrations on Capi-
tol Hill with practically the en-
tirety of Facebook’s business. Rep.
Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the

panel’s chairwoman, cited the

news this week that Facebook had

removed from its platform a num-

ber of efforts to spread disinfor-

mation, including a Russian cam-

paign on Facebook-owned Insta-

gram that targeted users in swing

states such as Florida. She said it

showed foreign malefactors are

“at it again,” four years after Rus-

sians took aim at the 2016 race.

She also criticized Facebook’s

decision not to fact-check politi-

cal ads. The matter has riled Dem-

ocratic presidential candidates,

who have asked — unsuccessfully

— for Facebook to remove an ad

purchased by President Trump’s

presidential campaign that they

have said is filled with falsehoods.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)

later echoed those concerns that

Facebook permits a “lower stan-

dard for truthfulness and decen-

cy” for politicians, adding: “It is

hate speech, it’s hate, and it’s

leading to violence and death

threats in my office.”

During the congressional grill-

ing, Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.)

challenged Facebook for failing to

stop child exploitation online.

Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) lit

into Zuckerberg for advertising

policies that he claimed had re-

sulted in discrimination against

diverse communities on social

media. And in one tense ex-

change, Rep. Gregory W. Meeks

(D-N.Y.) upbraided Zuckerberg

for his company’s role in serving

as an “accelerant in many of the

destructive” political fights

around the world.

“Facebook has been systemi-

cally found at the scene of the

crime,” he began. “Do you think

that’s just a coincidence?”

Zuckerberg’s testimony comes

amid a brutal month for Face-

book. The company learned this

week that it faces an antitrust

investigation by Democratic and

Republican attorneys general in

47 states, territories and the Dis-

trict of Columbia, far more than

the lead state behind the probe,

New York, had previously an-

nounced. Federal authorities also

are scrutinizing Facebook for po-

tential violations of competition

law.

But the company’s most signifi-

cant political headaches are con-

nected with the 2020 presidential

election. Facebook stirred contro-

versy this month when it declined

to remove an ad from Trump’s

campaign that contained false-

hoods about former vice presi-

dent Joe Biden, who is vying for

the Democratic presidential

nomination.

Biden and others, including

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.),

lambasted the tech giant for es-

sentially profiting off a form of

disinformation. But Facebook ar-

gued that it struck the right policy

position, allowing users to see

and interpret political speech on

their own. Zuckerberg told The

Washington Post in an interview

that he feared an “erosion of

truth” online but still felt that

Facebook achieved the proper

balance.

Days later, Facebook an-

nounced that a number of Rus-

sian and Iranian accounts had

sought to spread disinformation

on its services, including Insta-

gram, though Zuckerberg insist-

ed that the company had made

great strides in purging such con-

tent more swiftly since the 2016

election. “Elections have changed

significantly since 2016,” he said,

“and Facebook has changed, too.”

Addressing on Wednesday the

2020 election, the Facebook chief

defended the company’s ad pol-

icies: “The very small percent of

our business that’s made up of

political ads does not come any-

where close to justifying the kind

of controversy” the company has

experienced, Zuckerberg said.

Multiple committee Demo-

crats also pilloried Zuckerberg for

his company’s handling of issues

related to diversity, including its

hiring and contracting practices

and widely reported allegations

that its ad systems allowed hous-

ing companies to discriminate

against minorities. At one point,

an incensed Rep. Joyce Beatty

(D-Ohio) described Facebook’s

approach to civil rights as “ap-

palling and disgusting.”

“You should have known bet-

ter,” she said, telling Zuckerberg

that the company might have if

“you had real diversity and inclu-

sion on your team.”

As for Libra, on Wednesday,

Zuckerberg said Facebook was

trying to shift some of the respon-

sibility away from Facebook to

the Libra Association, a nonprofit

group of companies that will pilot

the digital currency.

“I get that I’m not the ideal

messenger right now,” he said.

Republicans largely came to

the defense of Facebook’s aspira-

tions for Libra.

“There’s a lot of anger out

there, and now, it’s being directed

at the architects of the system,”

said Rep. Patrick T. McHenry

(N.C.), the panel’s top GOP mem-

ber. “And maybe it’s not about

Libra. It’s not just about some

housing ads. And maybe it’s not

even really about Facebook at all.”

“Fair or not fair,” he continued,

“you’re here today to answer for

the digital age.”

tony.romm@washpost.com

Facebook’s Zuckerberg grilled at congressional hearing

BY DOUGLAS MACMILLAN

Boeing’s latest dismal financial
results underscore how swiftly the
worldwide grounding of the 737
Max has choked off the company’s
No. 1 line of business — and how
urgently Boeing needs the jet back
in the air.
Revenue fell to $20 billion in
the third quarter, down 21 percent
from a year earlier, Boeing said in
a statement Wednesday. Profit fell
51 percent to $1.17 billion.
Amid sharply slowing sales,
Boeing desperately needs regula-
tors to approve its proposed soft-
ware fixes for the 737 Max in the
coming months. Airlines have said
they plan to return the jet to
service as soon as January — but

that timeline hinges on Boeing

satisfying global authorities, some

of which appear increasingly frus-

trated with the company’s re-

sponse to the safety issues sur-

rounding the Max.

Boeing said its latest financial

results assume the 737 Max fixes

will be approved by regulators by

the end of the year. The company

said it plans to increase produc-

tion of the jet to 57 per month by

late 2020, up from its pace of 42 a

month now. Boeing lowered its

production from 52 a month after

the grounding in March.

But on a call with analysts

Wednesday, CEO Dennis Muilen-

burg cautioned that a further de-

lay in regulatory approvals for the

737 Max could force the company

to consider cutting production

again — or even a “temporary

shutdown of the Max production

line.”

Boeing also said it plans to

lower production of the 787

Dreamliner beginning in late

2020, saying that U.S.-China trade

tensions and weaker demand

from Chinese customers have cre-

ated a setback for the long-haul

jetliner.

“I think the recent trade discus-

sions have been productive —

they’re moving in a good direc-

tion,” Muilenburg said on the ana-

lyst call. “But for purposes of our

company, we have to be very disci-

plined in our production rate

management.”

Muilenburg is to testify in Con-

gress next week, close to the first

anniversary of the first 737 Max

crash. He is expected to face ques-

tions about why the company

failed to promptly provide regula-

tors with text messages in which a

high-level Boeing employee wrote

about an “egregious” problem

with the plane’s flight-control soft-

ware and said he “basically lied to

the regulators (unknowingly)”

about it.

The messages show Boeing’s

experts had identified critical

safety concerns with the Max

years ago, even as Boeing execu-

tives have publicly argued that the

company had followed its own

protocols for design and certifica-

tion of the jet. In a stern letter to

Boeing last week, the administra-

tor of the Federal Aviation Admin-

istration, Stephen Dickson, said:

“I expect your explanation im-

mediately.”

Boeing’s stock has fallen

24 percent since early March,

when a second crash of the 737

Max prompted the jet’s worldwide

grounding and created new risks

for a company that was once a

Wall Street darling. Analysts at

Credit Suisse downgraded the

stock this week, saying the text

messages and other disclosures

about Boeing’s handling of safety

issues “may shatter the fragile

trust between regulators and Boe-

ing.”

The crisis is already reshaping

Boeing’s leadership. Muilenburg,

still CEO, was stripped of his title

of chairman of the board — an

effort by Boeing’s board to provide

a stronger check on his power.

Boeing said this week that Kevin

McAllister, the executive who

oversaw the 737 Max as head of the

commercial planes division, had

resigned from that role and had

been replaced by company vet-

eran Stan Deal.

McAllister, a former General

Electric executive hired to lead

Boeing’s commercial business in

2016, sold about $5 million of

company shares in February of

this year, according to a regulatory

filing.

douglas.macmillan@washpost.com

 More at washingtonpost.com/

business

Boeing’s 3rd-quarter revenue and profit fall as costs of 737 Max crisis build

ANDREW HARNIK/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been under pressure to

remove political advertisements that spread falsehoods.

CEO defends company

on cryptocurrency, 2020

election and civil rights

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