Sorry PR, the Public Will Be a Lower Priority for Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg’s Congressional Testimony

Scott Sobel, MA Media Psychology, kglobal Agency

Public perception usually trumps reality when VIP’s testify before Congress.  In the case of Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the converse will be true, perception will be trumped by the legal content and facts that Congress, and especially Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, will parse during Zuckerberg’s commentary. This particular congressional testimony arguably tops the list as the most significant in recent history.Zuckerberg’s tightly scripted testimony will influence if Facebook faces new government regulation that can change its business model and how government controls social media. His testimony has civil and criminal implications for Facebook and staff, including Zuckerberg. Also hanging in the balance are questions of patriotic loyalty. The loyalty of Facebook users for continued use of the social media platform will certainly be impacted by his testimony. The CEO’s public believability and presentation are no doubt important but whether he makes eye-contact during the interrogation, whether Zuckerberg’s clothing is camera-ready, or if his hair is properly combed, will be far less important than what the Special Prosecutor and members of Congress hear him say on the record. The general public’s judgement is a lower priority, for now.Zuckerberg’s congressional interrogation concerning Facebook’s alleged release of tens-of-millions of Facebook user’s personal information to Cambridge Analytica, and its client, is set for Tuesday and Wednesday. Did that release of information help Russians swing the 2016 presidential election for Donald Trump, that is the big question and Zuckerberg’s testimony is certainly one of the key parts of the election-influence puzzle.I’ve prepared clients and attorneys for testimony before Congress, work with DC litigators now on crisis and litigation communications and have been an investigative journalist myself, so I can report that in this case more than just the PR aspects of Zuckerberg’s testimony are crucial.Another less reported situation additionally should be of tremendous interest to prosecutors and Congress. Facebook has had significant Russian investors and there are ties to Donald Trump’s son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner’s companies. Take a look at MSNBC’s 2009 report showing Zuckerberg and Facebook Russian investor Yuri Milner sharing a media interview – a related interview is also featured in The Guardian.Early in my journalism career I had a news director warn me that, “words are important and mean things.” I thought how silly, of course words mean things. Thinking about that admonition now, in the context of our oftentimes modern superficial digital communications platforms and truncated attention spans, special attention should indeed be paid to words that do have critical impact and ramifications. Zuckerberg and his legal and PR counsel this time will naturally be much more proportionally concerned about what is said and the following Q/A than the PR presentation.Here are a number of PR and media relations touch-points to watch for during Zuckerberg’s testimony:Zuckerberg should have been prepped, both physically and mentally, about every aspect of what to expect during the testimony. He, of course, has been preparing for days, maybe weeks, in a room that resembles the congressional conference rooms. He needs to know where his attorneys will be positioned, and when it is appropriate to get legal advice and to respond … when he actually should not answer a question.Zuckerberg isn’t in charge of this testimony process, a hard pill to swallow for most CEO’s. There is a very fine line between being respectful and contrite while being questioned by aggressive elected officials and looking confused. You must be in control but not aggressive. With practice, a CEO can certainly still have gravitas and dignity, but a congressional testimony is not the time to freelance or ad lib answers when there is so much riding on words. Remember, in this particular case what Zuckerberg says is really much more significant than how he looks as an actor in political and media theatre.Mark Zuckerberg probably understands that his testimony actually doesn't begin or end when he sits down in front of his congressional inquisitors and then when he leaves the room. Case in point, I had some behind-the-scenes association with the memorable 2008 testimony before Congress by the CEO’s from the big three automakers. The CEO’s infamously flew their private jets to DC to beg for bailout money. ABC News captured footage of their perceived hypocrisy by using business jets – regardless of the fact that using business aircraft usually is a very cost-effective and efficient way to travel. In that instance, the actions surrounding the testimony may have been more important than the testimony itself.Zuckerberg should do nothing before or after his appearance that contradicts that testimony or the theme of that testimony. Excessive public displays of wealth, official or personal contact with “subjects of interest” involved in the U.S. government Russian and 2016 election probe, or any off-the-record media interviews should be put on hard-stop for now and in the foreseeable future.Mark Zuckerberg needs to be prepared for the worst and hope for the best when he is the main course for the congressional grilling about to take place. If he doesn't know an answer, he must promise to find out details but not indicate he is not the captain of the Facebook ship. That tack could open him up for legal responsibility and liability, but the balancing act is no doubt being considered by Zuckerberg’s counsel.There is a normal human tendency to deeply exhale after a traumatic event, look for the end of the torture and try to get back to normalcy. Zuckerberg should learn from another notorious instance of a CEO faux pas. BP CEO Tony Hayward let slip, “I want my life back,” after the company’s involvement in the massive 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Zuckerberg’s testimony should be seen as the beginning of the beginning of this process and he will have to be on guard about what he says and does for a long time.When in doubt Mark Zuckerberg has to consider an apology as a safe harbor for his testimony before Congress, his possible future contact with a special prosecutor and his communications with investors.  Begging forgiveness and being very precise with your wording is a much better investment now than believing you are bullet proof because of past blessings. Welcome to the new normalcy Mr. Zuckerberg. [author]About the Author: Scott Sobel is Senior Vice President, Crisis and Litigation Communications, at kglobal, a Washington, DC-based full-service communications firm that influences public policy, increases market share + builds awareness for our commercial and federal clients. He counsels some of the world’s best-known corporations and is also a former in-house corporate public relations practitioner; major market and TV network police and investigative journalist and a media psychologist. https://kglobal.com/who-we-are/scott-sobel; https://www.kglobal.com/ [/author]