Mark Zuckerberg: “There will always be a version of Facebook that is free.” pic.twitter.com/OHxw1bMM93

— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 10, 2018

One notable exchange during today’s big Capitol Hill hearing came between Facebook CEO and Senator Orrin Hatch after Zuckerberg said “there will always be a version of Facebook that is free”:

HATCH: How do you sustain a business model in which users don’t pay for your service?

ZUCKERBERG (after a rather notable pause): Senator, we run ads.

Watch the exchange above, via Fox News.

UPDATE –– 5:03 pm ET: Hatch’s office tweeted to clarify Hatch’s remarks. Earlier the senator remarked upon how people are “shocked, SHOCKED that companies like Facebook and Google share user data with advertisers.” This post has been updated accordingly.

Of course Facebook runs ads.

The real issue here is transparency. #Facebook pic.twitter.com/p77DyKnbLL

— Senator Hatch Office (@senorrinhatch) April 10, 2018

See Senator Hatch's full opening statement with Mark Zuckerberg.

Of course Facebook runs ads– anyone shocked by that is clearly unfamiliar with the internet economy. The real issue is transparency. https://t.co/aRyOe154Df #utpol

— Senator Hatch Office (@senorrinhatch) April 10, 2018

[image via screengrab]

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