Mark Zuckerberg just hinted that Facebook could offer a paid version one day

Committee on the Judiciary

Mark Zuckerberg just suggested that Facebook might one day offer a paid, premium version of the service.

During his testimony on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Zuckerber was asked by a Republican Senator Orin Hatch if Facebook will always be free.

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Zuckerberg response: "Yes, there will always be a version of Facebook that is free."

The reason that's important is that Zuckerberg said A VERSION of Facebook will always be free. That's a marked difference from Facebook's longstanding insistence that Facebook will always be free. If you read between the lines, that suggests Facebook could also offer a paid version, perhaps without ads, at some point down the road.