Zuckerberg Leaked Audio: It Would 'Suck' If Elizabeth Warren Wins in 2020

Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg sought to rally employees amid a litany of challenges the social media company has faced over the past year and a half, speaking candidly in two hours of leaked audio recordings published by the Verge.

While Zuckerberg often got laughs and tried to create a friendly banter with employees, the mood inside the company remains anxious, the Verge reported.

Addressing questions raised at two open meetings with employees in July, Zuckerberg took on subjects from U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren’s plans to break up the company if elected president, to the rocky rollout of Libra and a new product to compete with TikTok.

If Warren were to be elected, “then I would bet that we will have a legal challenge, and I would bet that we will win the legal challenge,” Zuckerberg said. “And does that still suck for us? Yeah. I mean, I don’t want to have a major lawsuit against our own government.... But look, at the end of the day, if someone’s going to try to threaten something that existential, you go to the mat and fight.”

Warren responded to the story in her own tweet. “I’m not afraid to hold Big Tech companies like Facebook, Google, and Amazon accountable,” she tweeted. “It’s time to #BreakUpBigTech.”

The meetings took place after Facebook was fined $5 billion by the Federal Trade Commission, an amount largely seen as a slap on the wrist for the company, as was the settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for $100 million. But the scandals over data privacy laid bare by the Cambridge Analytica affair, the near-constant critiques and demand for testimony at lengthy hearings in the U.S. and Europe, and antitrust investigations on multiple fronts seem to have taken a toll. Employees had questions for Zuckerberg himself, and worried about Facebook’s increasingly dim reputation among their peers, according to the Verge.

Zuckerberg explained his decision on why he wouldn’t travel the world to testify in front of some foreign governments. “It just doesn’t make sense for me to go to hearings in every single country that wants to have me show up,” he said.

When asked about competition with TikTok, a popular video and social media app owned by China’s ByteDance Inc., Zuckerberg said Facebook has an answer. “We have a product called Lasso that’s a standalone app that we’re working on, trying to get product-market fit in countries like Mexico,” Zuckerberg said. “We’re trying to first see if we can get it to work in countries where TikTok isn’t already big before we go and compete with TikTok in countries where they are big.”

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[meezy]

This is the most human he's ever sounded

[patrickmccarron]

This is the only time he hasn't sounded like a robot in public. Tells you what really motivates him.

[saywhatiwant]

He's right...He's not wrong here.

[ToddSloanIAAN]

Sure, he goes to swing a bat and fight to break down his opponent Ban him for violence for a month for that expression! He sucks

[tj]

I blame congress for data rights violations. Tech has been flying blind for too long

[zachariahwhiton]

Yeah, let’s totally pretend Zuckybot and the government are at odds 🤔 this is just theater.

[russelldodd]

Now he cares about the constitution when it affects him? To late

[nickbeats]

Zuck make sure Trump wins and you wont have that problem. 😂😂😂😂

[ryanb]

This is America and he is able to have his own opinion

[MrSivram]

Is every private conversation now leaked in America? we now can't speak in private anymore? what the fuck is going on with this country

[vr_x]

He sounds like Jerry from Rick and Morty 😂🤷‍♂️

[joechang]

Nothing huge campaign donations can’t solve. And don’t forget the Clinton foundation

[solomonshv]

no kidding. elizabeth isn't a corporate lapdog like the entire republican base. she will tare him a new one.

[LouPalumbo]

Lol 😆 big tech not getting their money’s worth from dems

[q......]

This will be a nice campaign ad for Warren.

[peterdanner]

Ha, I started to write a negative comment then thought, FB can probably easily work out my identity and before I know it I'll be getting a federal tax audit and be mandated to listen to the One Direction catalogue....and so, move along folks, nothing to see here..😬

[StopListenThink]

Well thank god Pocahontas won't win she doesn't have the numbers behind her

[tammypowell]

IT WOULD SUCK TO BE STUCK IN THE LAKE OF FIRE FOREVER IS WHAT WOULD SUCK 🔥🔥🔥🔥😁💯✅🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵♾♾♾

[rubbertoe]

You can fake someone's voice it's not that difficult just Google it.

[notmeus]

I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made.

Franklin D. Roosevelt