Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg listens while testifying before a joint Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees hearing regarding the company’s use and protection of user data, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 10, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg listens while testifying before a joint Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees hearing regarding the company’s use and protection of user data, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 10, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis

During his Congressional testimony Tuesday, Facebook founder CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he is doing everything to protect the integrity of important upcoming elections across the world, including the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in India. Zuckerberg was facing 44 Senators in a rare joint committee hearing over allegations of a data breach, which impacted 87 million Facebook users and influenced the outcome of the 2016 US Presidential Elections.

“2018 is an incredibly important year for elections. Not just with the US midterms, but, around the world, there are important elections — in India, in Brazil, in Mexico, in Pakistan and in Hungary. We want to make sure that we do everything we can to protect the integrity of those elections,” Zuckerberg said.

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Taking responsibility for the data breach, he said, “(Facebook) didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake. And it was my mistake. And I’m sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here.”

Also read | Full text: Here’s what Zuckerberg said before the US Congress

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to testify before a joint hearing of the Commerce and Judiciary Committees on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 10, 2018, about the use of Facebook data to target American voters in the 2016 election. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to testify before a joint hearing of the Commerce and Judiciary Committees on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 10, 2018, about the use of Facebook data to target American voters in the 2016 election. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

He added that the company has spoken of data privacy and foreign interference in elections at its board meetings. “These are some of the biggest issues that the company has faced, and we feel a huge responsibility to get these right,” he added.

Going forward, Zuckerberg said the company has deployed new artificial intelligence tools to better identify fake accounts that may be trying to interfere in elections or spread misinformation.

Tuesday’s hearing was the first of two that the internet Mogul will have to face. The second one is on Wednesday.

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