Blog #62: Zuckerberg struggles for 'self-immolation before dawn'

There is a team of consultants for the boss of Facebook to talk about how to make difficult ears at the hearing before the US Congress.

April 10 will be a big day for Mark Zuckerberg, not to announce a Facebook- related project, but a hearing that clarifies the social media privacy policy.

In the hot seat position, Zuckerberg will face alone two hearing committees. The 33-year-old will have to explain the recent data leak of 87 million Facebook users.

The United States in general and the Americans in particular are very concerned about their involvement. Of the 87 million Facebook users who leaked that data, most of them were Americans.

Zuckerberg's hearing promises to reveal a lot of sensitive information that more than two billion Facebook users around the world are keen to know.

The hearing is considered a "final exam" by Zuckerberg. The owner will appear at Capitol Hill with a formal suit and tie instead of a gray T-shirt every day.

Mark Zuckerberg is preparing for Washington to testify before the US Congress.

This is the first time Zuckerberg has testified before the US Congress. In preparation for this important event, in the last few weeks, Facebook has been trying to change the image from a company that has kept the public opinion open to a more open company.

The Facebook team also repeatedly posted interviews, unlike the previously silent image.

Remember Zuckerberg and Facebook have quietly said nothing when the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke out. Only when the scandal is out of control, Facebook CEOs with apologies.

In a rare move, Zuckerberg had a press conference with reporters. The CEO acknowledged that Facebook did not fully measure the impact of abuse of the crawler. Zuckerberg calls this a "big mistake."

Following that, Zuckerberg announced that the company was beginning to require the ad unit to confirm its identity and location before running political ads on Facebook.

Hire a former special assistant to the president
Assisting Zuckerberg is a team of specialists, including a former special assistant to former US President George W. Bush. These people are responsible for counseling and cheating for Zuckerberg in the US Congress.

A 33-year-old, like Zuckerberg, who is a coder unfamiliar to the public, now has to sit in front of politicians in parliament, of course, will not be comfortable.

Stumbling, inexperienced coping is there. Therefore, Zuckerberg needs to be prepared to avoid problems and unanswerable questions.

Facebook hired WilmerHale lawyers to advise politicians on how to respond.

"For every CEO, and now Mark Zuckerberg, this is a milestone. Facebook plays an important role not only in business but also with society. So it is inevitable that the company's leadership will be in the Congressional hearings, "said Reed E. Hundt, a former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

Zuckerberg's testimony will be one of the biggest test cases of his career and for the future of Facebook.

Facebook's data-collection policy, the core of its advertising-based business model, has been the focus of criticism for the past few weeks.

Facebook acknowledges that "the vast majority" of over two billion users has been crawled. Apple CEO Tim Cook also denounced the monetization model of Facebook user data.

Prior to Zuckerberg's trip to Capitol Hill, Facebook hired a group of WilmerHale law firms and outside consultants.

The goal is to train Zuckerberg the hard questions, how to answer questions and how to respond when interrupted. At the same time these people also rehab work for Facebook boss.

Facebook also set up a hearing model with the involvement of an outside media team and consultant acting as a member of parliament. Zuckerberg rehearses several times with this simulation panel.

The Facebook team advised Zuckerberg to straight answer the lawmaker's question and not stubbornly. The purpose is to make Zuckerberg look humble, soft and more upright.

Reginald J. Brown, former special assistant to former President George W. Bush, led the WilmerHale law team.

What are the chances of a hearing?

View of a hearing before the US Congress. In the photo are the lawyers of Facebook, Twitter and Google.

Zuckerberg will testify before the Senate Judiciary and Trade Commission and the House Trade and Energy Committee on April 10.

In these hearings, members of the Democratic Party will turn Zuckerberg on a leaked information scandal and how Facebook handles potential interference in the mid-term US election.

Republican lawmakers will focus on privacy regulations and may use the hearing to express their suspicions about political engagement on social networks.

Zuckerberg may face the risk of angry American politicians. These people can attack Facebook more aggressively. Facebook shares have fallen 15% since the outbreak of the Cambridge Analytica scandal three weeks ago.

Facebook's effort to control the damage has been more intense than ever. In charge of this activity is a media team of more than 500 people, and a number of outsourced crisis management media companies.

Facebook is facing the biggest scandal in its 14-year history.