Zuckerberg hearing: Facebook CEO claims social network does not have a monopoly

The social network with 2.2 billion users has plenty of competition, Mr Zuckerberg says.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has told the US Congress that it "doesn't feel like" the social network has a monopoly.

Mr Zuckerberg made the remarks during his appearance before legislators as part of a joint hearing of the Senate Commerce and Judiciary Committees, which is seeking answers in the wake of the data scandal surrounding Facebook and the UK data firm Cambridge Analytica.

Around 87 million Facebook users had their personal information improperly shared with the UK firm. The data was then used for the purpose of political profiling during the 2016 US presidential elections and the UK's EU referendum that same year.

When asked whether he thought that Facebook has a monopoly, Mr Zuckerberg replied: "It certainly doesn't feel like that to me."

Facebook has more than 2.2 billion users worldwide and dwarfs any other online social network.

Beyond its core social network business, Facebook and its various subsidiaries now have direct influence over almost half of all internet traffic.

A recent #DeleteFacebook campaign in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal highlighted the lack of significant competition to the social network, with platforms like Vero and Minds only serving a small fraction of the users that Facebook serves.

Privacy conscious users, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, have already joined the campaign by removing themselves from the social network.

More than half a million people have also signed an online petition calling for Mr Zuckerberg to treat privacy more seriously.

Before the Facebook CEO took his seat before Congress, privacy advocates were already warning that his testimony would skirt around the social media giant's real issues.

Digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) tweeted a list of language to watch out for, and for lawmakers to pick Mr Zuckerberg up on. They include "bad actors," "idealistic and optimistic," and "hacking."

The EFF said: "Mark Zuckerberg will no doubt weave word games and roundabout language into his answers to Congress this week to distract from the real problem."