Zuckerberg appears in front of the U.S. Senate with apologies, and seems to have restored investor's confidence

Facebook's shares rose by 4.5% after almost a five-hour speech by the comapny's head in front of the U.S. Senate. The highest growth in stock price since 2016 and returned $2.8 billion to Mark Zuckerberg and...

Facebook's shares rose by 4.5% after almost a five-hour speech by the comapny's head in front of the U.S. Senate. The highest growth in stock price since 2016 and returned $2.8 billion to Mark Zuckerberg and $21 billion to the company.

Due to the scandal related to the leakage of 87 million users data, Facebook shares fell by 7% and users themselves began to delete their accounts in protest. The company confirmed that user's data had been compromised. A third-party application, under the guise of a sociological survey, collected data from users and their friends which was in turn given to Cambridge Analytica. They are accused of trying to influence the electorate during the presidential election in 2016.

Mark Zuckerberg stressed that Facebook is a company of idealists and optimists who created a tool for communication, but failed to protect the ordinary user of the service from being negatively exploited.

"We were not sufficiently aware of our responsibility, and it was a big mistake. That was my fault. And I'm very sorry. I launched Facebook, I manage it, and I'm responsible for what's happening here."

The head of the company said that a thorough investigation is under way now which has three main goals. First, it is necessary to find out exactly how many users were affected by the data leakage and how Cambridge Analytica used the information it received. Secondly, all applications that request user data will also be checked. The company will also work to prevent similar leakages in the future.

After finishing his speech Zuckerberg answered questions from the senators, but many of the answers were rather evasive. Journalists noted that questions about privacy settings and user tracking remain unclarified. When Zuckerberg was asked to recognize Facebook's monopoly, he replied that users have alternatives and that Americans use eight applications on average for communication. However, among these applications are Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger – all of which are owned by Facebook.

On the day of the hearing the Facebook bug bounty program was updated. Now those who detect the misuse of data by third-party applications can receive a reward of up to $40,000, and the amount can be increased if a particularly large leak is detected.