Mark Zuckerberg Posted This Status Update After Calling Obama to Grill Him on Internet Spying

Impact

The Senate is calling out the U.S. government's increasingly labyrinthine spying schemes, and now the founder of the biggest social media company in the world is joining the fray.

On Thursday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a status update lambasting President Barack Obama for his endorsement of the National Security Agency (NSA)'s domestic spying operations.

While Zuckerberg himself has been attacked in the past for Facebook's privacy issues, he was unequivocal in his criticism of the NSA.

"I've been so confused and frustrated by the repeated reports of the behavior of the US government. When our engineers work tirelessly to improve security, we imagine we're protecting you against criminals, not our own government," Zuckerberg wrote. "The US government should be the champion for the internet, not a threat. They need to be much more transparent about what they're doing, or otherwise people will believe the worst."

Facebook itself has allegedly been a target of NSA operations; recently released documents by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that the agency may have hacked Facebook servers and used malware to steal users' private data. Around 85,000 to 100,000 malware implants are estimated to have been deployed.

Watch the animation below to see how the operation may have been carried out:

Zuckerberg added that he had reached out personally to Obama to voice his concerns, but that from their phone conversation, "Unfortunately, it seems like it will take a very long time for true full reform ... I'm committed to seeing this happen, and you can count on Facebook to do our part." The National Security Council confirmed that the call did take place, although it has maintained that the alleged spying operations never took place.

Since September, Zuckerberg has been critical of the NSA's operation, saying that the "government blew it" when it comes to walking the fine line between privacy and national security. And now that his website is on the receiving end of the agency's probe, it's no wonder he is using that direct line to the president.