Senator John Kennedy Says Facebook User Agreement Shouldn't Be In Swahili

Facebook’s Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday sat through a five-hour congressional hearing, facing criticism and apologizing for a series of missteps that endangered the privacy of tens of millions of Americans and helped in spreading phony news and Russian disinformation.

Several lawmakers had their piece to say to Zuckerberg, however, the one that stood out was the comments made by John Neely Kennedy, an attorney serving as the junior senator from Louisiana since Jan. 3, 2017.

According to a report in Nola.com, toward the end of the session, Kennedy removed his suit coat, rolled up his sleeves and lectured Zuckerberg on how to restore the world’s most popular social media platform.

The first-term Louisiana Republican said, “Mr. Zuckerberg, I come in peace. I don't want to have to vote to regulate Facebook, but by God, I will. A lot of that depends on you. I'm a little disappointed in this hearing today. I just don't feel like that we're connecting. So let me try to lay it out for you from my point of view.”

"I think you're a really smart guy, and I think you have built an extraordinary American company. And you've done a lot of good. Some of the things that you've been able to do are magical. But our promised digital utopia, we have discovered has some minefields. There are some impurities in the Facebook punch bowl. And they've got to be fixed. And I think you can fix them,” Kennedy added.

Close to everyone agreed with what Kennedy had to say up until the point when the senator asked Zuckerberg to request the company lawyers to write a user agreement that is not in Swahili and can be understood by everyone.

“Here's what everybody's been trying to tell you today, and I'll say it gently: Your user agreement sucks. The purpose of that user agreement is to cover Facebook's rear end. It's not to inform users of their rights. I am going to suggest to you that you go back home and you rewrite it and tell your $1,200-an hour lawyers, no disrespect, they're good, but tell them that you want it written in English and non-Swahili, so the average American can understand it. That would be a start,” he said.

Kennedy’s remarks did not sit well with a lot of social media users who criticized his "Swahili" reference, calling it a racial slur.

After the hearing when Kennedy was questioned about whether or not he should make an apology for his comments given the outrage it caused, he said, “there is nothing to apologize for. I think everyone understood the point I’m trying to make,” Mwakilishi.com reported.

Reports state that the Facebook CEO would return to Capitol Hill on Wednesday where he will appear before the House Commerce Committee.