--- title: Mark Zuckerberg Calls Obama Over NSA Spying description: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg writes in an open letter, published on Thursday, that he called President Obama to "express my frustration" at the threat he believes mass government surveillance poses to the future of the Internet canonical: https://time.com/23925/mark-zuckerberg-i-called-obama-over-state-spying/ author: Denver Nicks article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-13T19:56:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T08:47:55.166Z article:section: Politics og:title: Mark Zuckerberg Calls Obama Over NSA Spying og:description: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg writes in an open letter, published on Thursday, that he called President Obama to "express my frustration" at the threat he believes mass government surveillance poses to the future of the Internet og:url: https://time.com/23925/mark-zuckerberg-i-called-obama-over-state-spying/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf684669cd6a65d69/69868415cd684874e109372a/180970439.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg Interviewed Prior To Meeting With Lawmakers og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mark Zuckerberg Calls Obama Over NSA Spying twitter:description: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg writes in an open letter, published on Thursday, that he called President Obama to "express my frustration" at the threat he believes mass government surveillance poses to the future of the Internet twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf684669cd6a65d69/69868415cd684874e109372a/180970439.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mark Zuckerberg: I Called Obama Over NSA Spying > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=bb66c208-0740-4ca0-9eea-4838334e3dec&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Zuckerberg Calls Out Obama On Data Gathering, Internet Calls Out Zuckerberg [Watch (HLS stream): Zuckerberg Calls Out Obama On Data Gathering, Internet Calls Out Zuckerberg](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lHuv7XXq.m3u8) (1:17)  _Published 2014-03-14. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called President Obama to reiterate opposition to government surveillance efforts. The Internet was quick to call Zuckerberg out since Facebook has made a business out of knowing users’ preferences and personal info._  by [Denver Nicks](https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Mar 13, 2014 7:56 PM UTC Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called President Obama to reiterate opposition to government surveillance efforts. The Internet was quick to call Zuckerberg out since Facebook has made a business out of knowing users’ preferences and personal info.  by [Denver Nicks](https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Mar 13, 2014 7:56 PM UTC Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg [wrote in a post](https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10101301165605491?notif%5Ft=notify%5Fme) to the social network Thursday that he called President Obama in exasperation at the threat he believes mass surveillance poses to the future of the Internet. “I’ve called President Obama to express my frustration over the damage the government is creating for all of our future. Unfortunately, it seems like it will take a very long time for true full reform,” Zuckerberg writes. In a statement, the White House confirmed the conversation took place. In his open letter, Zuckerberg, laments the damage he believes state surveillance — and the National Security Agency’s systematic work to crack encrypted privacy protections — does to the future of the Internet. “The Internet is our shared space. It helps us connect. It spreads opportunity,” he writes. “This is why I’ve been so confused and frustrated by the repeated reports of the behavior of the U.S. government. When our engineers work tirelessly to improve security, we imagine we’re protecting you against criminals, not our own government.” Zuckerberg has been vocal in the past about his [displeasure](http://techland.time.com/2013/12/09/tech-titans-band-together-in-effort-to-limit-government-surveillance/) with the NSA’s mass surveillance programs. In closing his note, he seems to implicitly endorse the work of nongovernmental groups developing technological tools that circumvent state surveillance. “So it’s up to us — all of us — to build the Internet we want. Together, we can build a space that is greater and a more important part of the world than anything we have today, but is also safe and secure,” he writes. If Zuckerberg’s comments ring familiar it’s because [Edward Snowden](http://time.com/18207/edward-snowden-sxsw-south-by-southwest/), speaking at the South by Southwest Interactive technology festival this week, said something similar. “They’re setting fire to the future of the Internet,” Snowden said, “and the people that are in this room now — you guys are the firefighters.” ## Transcript [00:00] Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg literally called on [00:03] President Obama as he reiterated his company's [00:06] opposition to government surveillance efforts. The CEO [00:09] said he called the President to explain, once again, [00:12] how he found US intelligence gathering frustrating and [00:16] confusing. When our engineers work tirelessly to [00:19] improve security, we imagine we're protecting you [00:22] against criminals, not our own government. The [00:25] Internet, of course, was quick to call Zuckerberg out. [00:28] Facebook has made a business out of knowing its [00:30] users' preferences and personal info, after all. The [00:34] company has even paid out tens of millions of dollars [00:36] in class action settlements over its aggressive [00:39] advertising and information gathering practices. But, [00:43] hypocrisy aside, says The Guardian, Zuckerberg's [00:46] message is important. We need people like him to [00:49] explain why the National Security Agency, just one [00:52] malefactor among an assortment of other security and [00:55] law enforcement bodies here and abroad, has become [00:58] at least as much a menace to our security as it is a [01:01] protector. In his post, Zuckerberg says, despite the [01:04] one- on- one chat, it seems like it will take a very long [01:07] time for true reform. The Obama Administration has so [01:11] far declined to comment on the call. Thanks for [01:13] watching, I'm Cliff Judy. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/23925/mark-zuckerberg-i-called-obama-over-state-spying/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/23925/mark-zuckerberg-i-called-obama-over-state-spying/"},"headline":"Mark Zuckerberg: I Called Obama Over NSA Spying","datePublished":"2014-03-13T19:56:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-01T08:47:55.166Z","description":"Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg writes in an open letter, published on Thursday, that he called President Obama to \"express my frustration\" at the threat he believes mass government surveillance poses to the future of the Internet","url":"https://time.com/23925/mark-zuckerberg-i-called-obama-over-state-spying/","keywords":["Domestic Surveillance","Tech","NSA","facebook","Edward Snowden","Mark Zuckerberg"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf684669cd6a65d69/69868415cd684874e109372a/180970439.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Denver Nicks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf684669cd6a65d69/69868415cd684874e109372a/180970439.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg Interviewed Prior To Meeting With Lawmakers","caption":"Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg Interviewed Prior To Meeting With Lawmakers","creditText":"Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/domestic-surveillance/","name":"Domestic Surveillance"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/23925/mark-zuckerberg-i-called-obama-over-state-spying/","name":"Mark Zuckerberg: I Called Obama Over NSA Spying"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Zuckerberg Calls Out Obama On Data Gathering, Internet Calls Out Zuckerberg","description":"Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called President Obama to reiterate opposition to government surveillance efforts. 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