Mark Zuckerberg mocked after using booster seat in senate grilling

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies 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/Carolyn Kaster)

Yesterday, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg faced one of his biggest challenges yet – a terse grilling from congress over the revelations that Facebook leaked millions of users date to Cambridge Analytica.

But as he sat in the firing line, it later emerged that the 5ft 7ins Facebook boss was using a 4-inch-thick pad to boost his height as he faced repeated questioning.

‘Mark Zuckerberg’s chair on Capitol Hill has a nice big extra cushion’, tweeted the Washingtonian – the first to notice the large the booster.

But while Facebook later confirmed that the seat was not Zuckerberg’s own choice, it soon became ripe for online parody.

‘Mark Zuckerberg in a booster seat looks like he’s about to ask the waitress for chicken fingers and apple juice’, one user wrote.

Another said: ‘Mark Zuckerberg sitting on a booster cushion in order to appear taller is a great metaphor for life on Facebook.

Despite the terse grilling, it seems that investors were willing to reward Zuckerberg’s co-operation with Congress, after Facebook stocks rose 4.5% on Tuesday – which is said to have boosted the entrepreneur’s fortune by around £2.1bn.

During the hearing, Mr Zuckerberg repeated his admission that the company ‘didn’t do enough’ to stop its tools ‘being used for harm’.

Facebook also says it is in the process of letting up to 87 million users know that their information may have been accessed by Cambridge Analytica.

‘It was my mistake, and I’m sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here’, Mr Zuckerberg said in a prepared statement.