Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s public statement on Cambridge Analytica overwhelmingly failed to quell concerns, said Ina Fried, Chief Technology Correspondent at Axios.
“[The company] did a good job of hitting their talking points and they were very consistent,” Fried told Cheddar. “But I don’t think that’s the real measure...There’s a lot still to be answered.
“People want to know what are they doing now for the threats that they’re facing. We’re still waiting to see if are they capable of stopping things like misinformation and election fraud.”
After five days of silence, Zuckerberg gave interviews with four media outlets on Wednesday. The key takeaways included an explicit apology, his willingness to testify in front of Congress, and his openness to regulations on ads on Facebook.
The public mea culpa stems from revelations last week that a data company, Cambridge Analytica, had used Facebook to harvest information on tens of millions of Americans without their permission. That data was then packaged into personality profiles and sold to President Trump’s campaign team during the 2016 election.
In an effort to build back trust with users, Zuckerberg also posted a statement on his Facebook profile with a detailed timeline of what happened and a few changes to privacy and data policies, including an audit of thousands of apps on its platform.
But that isn’t enough, said Alex Shepard, staff writer at The New Republic.
“They would need to open themselves up to an external audit...to look at how these groups and apps are using their data, and they’re not going to do that.”
The apology didn’t do well with investors either. Facebook stock dipped nearly another three percent Thursday, continuing the stocks worst week in years.
Meanwhile in D.C., lawmakers continued to push for Zuckerberg to testify before Congress.
“The notion that these large platforms that have such dominance in the marketplace are going to police themselves and respect the privacy interests of the American people has clearly not worked,” Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) told Cheddar Thursday.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/mark-zuckerberg-tries-to-smooth-things-over-with-billions-of-friends).
Nestlé has dismissed its CEO Laurent Freixe after an investigation into an undisclosed relationship with a direct subordinate. The company announced on Monday that the dismissal was effective immediately. An investigation found that Freixe violated Nestlé’s code of conduct. He had been CEO for a year. Philipp Navratil, a longtime Nestlé executive, will replace him. Chairman Paul Bulcke stated that the decision was necessary to uphold the company’s values and governance. Navratil began his career with Nestlé in 2001 and has held various roles, including CEO of Nestlé's Nespresso division since 2024.
Kraft Heinz is splitting into two companies a decade after they joined in a massive merger that created one of the biggest food companies on the planet. One of the companies will include brands such as Heinz, Philadelphia cream cheese and Kraft Mac & Cheese. The other will include brands like Oscar Mayer, Kraft Singles and Lunchables. When the company formed in 2015 it wanted to capitalize on its massive scale, but shifting tastes complicated those plans, with households seeking to introduce healthier options at the table. Kraft Heinz's net revenue has fallen every year since 2020.
About 780,000 pressure washers sold at retailers like Home Depot are being recalled across the U.S. and Canada, due to a projectile hazard that has resulted in fractures and other injuries among some consumers.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
