World Bulletin / News Desk

Facing questions about the worst data leak in the company's history, Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified Tuesday before 44 U.S. senators on two powerful committees.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (Republican, Iowa) called the hearing “unique,” adding that it is no secret Facebook makes money from data through advertising revenue, although many seem confused by or unaware of this.

"Facebook generated $40 billion in 2017, with about 98 percent coming from advertising," he said.

Commerce Committee Chairman Sen. John Thune (Republican, South Dakota) noted that 2 billion people use Facebook on a monthly basis, while 1.4 billion use it every day.

"Facebook's extraordinary reach is why we are here today. I am not convinced that Facebook's users have the information they need to make meaningful choices," he said.

Facebook reported last week that 87 million of its users' private information was used without consent by U.K.-based Cambridge Analytica for critical political voting in that country and the U.S.

“It is clear now that we didn't do enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm as well," Zuckerberg testified. “That goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections and hate speech.”

"We didn't take a broad enough view of our responsibility and that was a big mistake. It was my mistake and I am sorry ... This includes the basic responsibility of protecting people's information which we failed to do with Cambridge Analytica," he added.