Mark Zuckerberg Appears Before EU Lawmakers Over Data Scandal & They Grill Him Like A Criminal

Mark Zuckerberg met with European Union leaders today, his third appearance before legislators regarding Facebook¡¯s Cambridge Analytica scandal.

The lawmakers present pretty much ripped Zuckerberg apart for failing to keep the data of millions of users safe, as well as other points of contention.

Images courtesy: Reuters

The session was held before political leaders in the EU parliament, where the the idea for tightened regulations were floated for both Facebook and its other counterparts in the technology industry. In fact, the legislators even questioned whether Facebook had become too big and too powerful, and whether it needed to be investigated or even broken up into smaller pieces.

European parliament president Antonio Tajani opened the session, immediately expressing his alarm at the sort of influence Facebook has beyond the technology sphere. ¡°The price paid by the users is in many cases data in exchange for free services,¡± he said. ¡°However, democracy should never become a marketing operation where anyone who buys that data buys a political advantage.¡±

To this, Zuckerberg¡¯s only reply was the same apology he¡¯s been mouthing to US congress, that the company didn¡¯t take a ¡°broad enough view¡± of their responsibility, and failed as a result. ¡°And I¡¯m sorry for it,¡± he reiterated.

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It¡¯s important to remember here that the EU has always been much more stringent than the US when it comes to regulating big tech companies, and lawmakers present had all too recent memories of Facebook apologising, ¡°fifteen or sixteen times in the last decade,¡± one member of parliament Guy Verhofstadt said. And one of Verhofstadt¡¯s solutions to the current problem is certain to make Zuckerberg unhappy, that of making the platform¡¯s algorithms public.

The timing couldn¡¯t be worse for Zuckerberg, given that this hearing is just three days before the EU¡¯s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect. In essence it mandates that companies need to be up front with customers about how they collect and use their data, as well as offer customers the chance to opt out. Not only does that mean data collection stops, but the company would then have to also delete all of that person¡¯s data, or face heavy penalties.

That means Facebook isn¡¯t just the naughty boy in classroom at the moment, it¡¯s also the whipping boy the EU is using to make an example, to show Big Tech that they will brook no cutting of corners.

We¡¯ll be able to update again in a bit, so stay tuned.