Zuckerberg Congress hearing: The most excruciating moments from the Facebook boss' questioning

'Is Twitter the same as what you do?'

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before a joint Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees hearing (Reuters)

Mark Zuckerberg has sat through his first questioning at Congress – and there were some very strange moments.

The hearings had been described in advance as a pivotal moment for Facebook, at which he would be intensely questioned in ways that could make or break the company. But in the end the hearing was largely friendly, with most of the questions being relatively easy for Mr Zuckerberg to answer.

Numerous commentators remarked on the fact that much of the hearing was taken up with Mr Zuckerberg explaining the internet to the older senators who were questioning him. And some of that moved into vaguely embarrassing moments, during which he was forced to deal with questions about the very basics of how modern computers work.

As well as very basic questions about his business that seemed to suggest that some senators don't even fully understand how Facebook actually works, the committee also asked bizarre questions about other products.

At one point, Senator Orrin Hatch – who said that it was the most intense scrutiny he'd seen for a tech hearing since the Microsoft case, which he was involved in – appeared to be confused about how exactly Facebook works.

"Well, if so, how do you sustain a business model in which users don't pay for your service?" he asked Mr Zuckerberg.

"Senator, we run ads," the Facebook boss replied.

Mr Hatch seemed to accept that explanation, nodding approvingly. "I see. That's great," he said.

At another point, Brian Schatz appeared to ask a bizarre question about WhatsApp.

"If I'm emailing within WhatsApp, does that ever inform your advertisers?" he asked the Facebook boss.

As well as the fact that WhatsApp messages are encrypted – so the content of them cannot possibly be read by Facebook or its advertisers – it is not actually possible to send an email from within WhatsApp.

At another point, while discussing whether Facebook was a monopoly, Senator Lindsey Graham asked a strange question about what Facebook actually is. "Is Twitter the same as what you do?" he said.

Many of the questions posed to Mr Zuckerberg were of this type, focusing on the business's fundamental business model and asking him to explain it. The Facebook boss himself appeared to have prepared for much more difficult questions – his private notes were revealed during proceedings, and showed that he expected to be asked whether he should be fired and if people should be paid compensation for having their data abused.