Facebook explains why Mark Zuckerberg sat on 'booster seat' for Congress grilling
As Mark Zuckerberg faced an uncomfortable five-hour Senate grilling over Facebook’s privacy failures, it was his so-called ‘booster seat’ that created a sideshow on social media.
The Facebook CEO was perched on a height-boosting cushion for the interrogation over the Cambridge Analytica scandal - the data-mining firm accused of hijacking data on millions of users.
Sitting on the four-inch leather cushion, Mr Zuckerberg conceded: “We have made a lot of mistakes in running the company.”
Commentators dubbed the cushion a ‘booster seat’ after photos circulated online, speculating the social media chief may have requested the seat to appear taller, more authoritative and imposing.
“Tech companies pretend they don’t understand the subtlety of the bias their platforms introduce, but OF COURSE they do. Zuckerberg is 5’7”,” commented Kaivan Shroff.
“His team has him sitting on a 4” cushion during testimony because they know it’s important for him not to look small or meek in the pics.”
How you gonna testify to Congress sitting on a booster seat? pic.twitter.com/zkfb1uQCps
— Jericho - Tucker (@IIJERiiCHOII) April 10, 2018
Stop infantilizing Mark Zuckerberg! Also, here’s his booster seat. (Photographs by Evy Mages.) pic.twitter.com/MeKwDZwIEF
— Andrew Beaujon (@abeaujon) April 10, 2018
Tech companies pretend they don’t understand the subtlety of the bias their platforms introduce, but OF COURSE they do.
Zuckerberg is 5’7”
His team has him sitting on a 4” cushion during testimony because they know it’s important for him not to look small or meek in the pics. pic.twitter.com/9on6W3eppi— Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) April 10, 2018
“How about just looking at the height of the chair and height of the desk. I think it would be extremely uncomfortable sitting with your arms resting at a 90 degree angle,” responded one.
“Is that a billionaire's version of a booster seat?!” asked another.
As the memes spread, Facebook confirmed the cushion had actually been provided by the Senate Judiciary Committee. A spokesperson for the company said: “That’s the committee’s standard practice”.
A source also suggested to Business Insider that the 5ft 7in tech entrepreneur was primarily thinking about his personal comfort over optics.
Mr Zuckerberg stepped firmly out of his comfort zone for his Congress appearance, swapping his trademark grey T-shirt for a navy suit, white shirt and blue tie.
In preparation for the hearing, it has been reported the Facebook boss received intensive coaching from law firm WilmerHale and external consultants on the possible questions he could face.
The 33-year-old arrived to give his testimony armed with a binder of notes, photographed by an Associated Press photographer.
“Founded Facebook. My decisions. I made mistakes. Big challenge but we've solved problems before. Going to solve this one,” they read.
The prepped answers also indicated Mr Zuckerberg expected senators to ask whether he'd resign, they also referred to Apple CEO Tim Cook.
One note read: “Lots of stories about apps misusing Apple data, never seen Apple notify people.”
Mr Zuckerberg told the hearing that one of his “greatest regrets in running the company” was Facebook’s slowness in uncovering and reacting to Russia’s interference in the 2016 US election.
“You know there are people in Russia whose job is to exploit our systems... so this is an arms race,” he said. “They are going to keep getting better at this and we need to invest in keeping on getting better at this too.”
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