Facebook's Zuckerberg, Sandberg Unlikely to Testify on Russia

(Bloomberg) -- Facebook Inc. is unlikely to send its top two executives, Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, to testify before congressional panels investigating Russia's meddling in the U.S. election, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Both the U.S. House and Senate Intelligence Committees are holding hearings on Nov. 1. That's the same day Facebook plans to report third-quarter earnings, which Sandberg and Zuckerberg will be presenting to investors. The social network executives weren't explicitly invited to testify in Washington; in fact, senators said they preferred to hear from someone who could most capably describe the technical aspects of what happened. Facebook said it hasn't yet decided who will attend, but it's planning to participate in both hearings, which will look at the role online platforms played in Russia's efforts to interfere in the 2016 election.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Frier in San Francisco at sfrier1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Andrew Pollack