{"id":164612,"date":"2018-05-22T22:01:53","date_gmt":"2018-05-23T02:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=164612"},"modified":"2018-05-22T22:01:53","modified_gmt":"2018-05-23T02:01:53","slug":"facebook-chief-faces-eu-grilling-over-his-digital-monster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/05\/22\/facebook-chief-faces-eu-grilling-over-his-digital-monster\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook chief faces EU grilling over his ‘digital monster’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Whether<\/a>
Whether it was \u201cfake news, foreign interference in elections and developers misusing people’s information,\u201d Zuckerberg said, \u201cwe didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibilities.\u201d(Photo By: <\/a>Alessio Jacona\/Flickr, <\/a>CC BY-SA 2.0)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

BRUSSELS -Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced tough questions from European Union lawmakers Tuesday over what one of them branded Zuckerberg’s \u201cdigital monster,\u201d and he apologized for the way the social network has been used to produce fake news, interfere in elections and sweep up people’s personal data.<\/p>\n

At a hearing in the European Parliament in Brussels, legislators sought explanations about the growing number of false Facebook accounts and whether Facebook will comply with new EU privacy rules, but many were left frustrated by Zuckerberg’s lack of answers.<\/p>\n

After short opening remarks, Zuckerberg listened to all the questions first, and then responded to them all at once. There was no back-and-forth with lawmakers, as happened during his testimony in front of the U.S. Congress last month.<\/p>\n

As a result, he was able to avoid giving some answers and ran out of time to provide others.<\/p>\n

His appearance came at a difficult time for Facebook. In March it was alleged that political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica used the data of millions of Facebook users to target voters during political campaigns, including the one that brought Donald Trump to the presidency.<\/p>\n

Whether it was \u201cfake news, foreign interference in elections and developers misusing people’s information,\u201d Zuckerberg said, \u201cwe didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a mistake, and I’m sorry for it,\u201d he added during the hearing, which ran just over an hour and a half.<\/p>\n

But liberal leader Guy Verhofstadt said Zuckerberg has done enough apologizing for his company’s mistakes. He said the real question is: \u201cAre you capable to fix it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Verhofstadt asked whether Zuckerberg wanted to be remembered like computer legends Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, \u201cwho have enriched our world and our societies,\u201d or as \u201ca genius who created a digital monster that is destroying our democracies and our societies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Socialist leader Udo Bullmann demanded an explanation for how the number of false Facebook accounts can be on the rise and what is being done to stop them being used to manipulate elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are at the crossroads, and in a critical situation, because your business practices touch upon two basic values of our societies,\u201d Bullmann said. \u201cFirst of all, the personal data which became perhaps the most important asset in modern media society. And secondly, on the right of self-government of sovereign nations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zuckerberg said Facebook is strengthening co-operation with national election authorities and trying to introduce more transparency about who is running political advertising.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one of our top priorities as a company,\u201d he told the lawmakers. He said the goal is to build more artificial-intelligence tools to identify fake accounts and to take them down.<\/p>\n

Facebook came away largely unscathed from Zuckerberg’s testimony in front of Congress in April. The company’s stock even rose after his appearance. Several U.S. lawmakers often seemed to fail to grasp the technical details of Facebook’s operations.<\/p>\n

European politicians in general have been tougher on Silicon Valley and have attached more importance to online privacy.<\/p>\n

Zuckerberg’s testimony in Brussels came just before a stringent new EU law, known as the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, takes effect.<\/p>\n

The law, which goes into force on Friday, is tougher than U.S. legislation and will give Facebook’s estimated 252 million European users more control over what companies can do with what they post, search and click on, regardless of what country those companies operate in. Companies could be fined up to 4 per cent of their worldwide annual revenue for violations.<\/p>\n

Asked whether Facebook is ready to respect the rules, Zuckerberg said: \u201cWe do expect to be fully compliant\u201d on Friday.<\/p>\n

The evening hearing was initially meant to be held behind closed doors but was broadcast live after many in the assembly demanded an open session.<\/p>\n

As time ran out, Zuckerberg agreed to provide written answers to questions he had not responded to during the hearing.<\/p>\n

Lamenting the way the hearing was organized and the lack of solid answers, Conservative leader Sayed Kamall said, \u201cUnfortunately the format was a get-out-of-jail-free card.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still don’t know the depths that people’s data has been abused,\u201d he said. \u201cUntil we genuinely know what has happened, and is still happening, Facebook and legislators can’t put in place the right solutions to prevent the same issues in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zuckerberg is due to hold talks in Paris on Wednesday with French President Emmanuel Macron.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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