Facebook execs might be breathing a sigh of relief now that Zuckerberg’s time on Congress is over. But watching the Facebook CEO’s testimony, we’re left with more questions than answers. 

Facebook's leadership shouldn’t relax just yet -- and neither should the rest of us. Facebook is in trouble, and not just because of the news of the last few weeks. It’s time for Zuckerberg to seriously consider whether or not his track record makes him the right man to build a fair, transparent Facebook that can be trusted by the next generation of users. 

We need to remember: Facebook’s troubled relationship with civil liberties goes back far longer than the Cambridge Analytica scandal itself. For years, Facebook users have been confused about how -- and why -- it censors content, and how it collaborates with companies like Cambridge Analytica. It has also blanketly collected private user call and text data -- again, with very little transparency. 

In life and death situations, Facebook’s censorship policies have sided with the most powerful -- police and governments -- over average people. SumOfUs members joined with scores of other groups to condemn Facebook when the company shut down the live stream of Korryn Gaines’ fatal police encounter at the request of Baltimore police in 2016. Facebook’s approach to complying with the Baltimore police sent a disturbing message about their attitude towards civil liberties. Since then, little has changed. 

Even Facebook seems confused about its policy on free speech. The site has allowed calls for Myanmar’s ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya to circulate on its platform, while banning dangerous” Rohingya groups from the site. Facebook has also labeled Palestinian news sources “hate speech” and actively suppressed their content.

Whoever leads Facebook into its next phase must be bold enough to walk the line between defending free speech and suppressing hate speech. They must do this not only the US, but all over the world, where the platform has already found itself on the frontline of popular uprisings where Facebook’s corporate policies might end up being a deciding factor in the overthrow of an existing regime.      

We can’t be surprised that Facebook is encountering bumps in the road when it has been led by the same person since the very start. Zuckerberg has built an impressive corporation, no doubt, but he has yet to build in structures for accountability: he is still both Chairperson and CEO of Facebook. While an ambitious college kid might balk at the idea of a board Chair that might check his ambition, a 33 year old at the helm of one of the world’s largest corporations should be expected to have the humility to accept some limits on his power. 

Even investment advisors like Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) warned investors of Facebook’s “autocratic” governance model.  Last year, SumOfUs worked with Facebook shareholders to urge that the company create an independent board chair. Despite Zuckerberg controlling the majority of shareholder voting power, our independent Board Chair proposal last year received the second-highest voter turnout of any proposals on the table (49% of the non-insider vote) - suggesting the public and Facebook’s own shareholders want and deserve new leadership.  

The cult of the “boy wonder” in tech is nothing new, and it has secured Zuckerberg a form of impunity that is hard to pin down, but all too easy to see in its consequences. With the power to influence social movements and entire elections, we must demand more from Facebook. It’s time for Zuckerberg -- and Facebook -- to grow up.