Yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), apologized again. This time it was before the European Parliament (EP) in Brussels. During this meeting, Mark Zuckerberg defended his company after the scandal of the improper sale of millions of users’ data to the British political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica, in which up to 2.7 million Europeans were affected.
On Monday, Parliament President Antonio Tajani proudly tweeted that Facebook CEO agreed to a live stream: “I am glad to announce that he has accepted this new request. Great news for EU citizens. I thank him for the respect shown towards EP.” Indeed, after controversy over a closed-door hearing, the meeting was broadcasted live like occurred in Zuckerberg’s testimony before the American Congress last month.
During the meeting, Zuckerberg said that “whether it’s fake news, foreign interference in elections or developers misusing people’s information, we didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibilities. That was a mistake, and I’m sorry”. He also committed to doubling the number of people working on the company’s security, adding “keeping people safe will always be more important than our profits”.
Three days before the entry into force of the General Data Protection Regulation, aiming at improving European users’ control over their data, this public appearance marks once again the will of the European Union to protect its citizens as much as possible. Mark Zuckerberg concluded that he expected Facebook to be fully compliant with this new EU regulation.
Mark Zuckerberg is due to visit the French President Emmanuel Macron today, with 50 other leaders of major digital companies, as part of the “Tech for good” summit.
Maurane Delpeuch
For further information:
Huffington post website: https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2018/05/22/mark-zuckerberg-sexplique-devant-les-elus-europeens-ce-mardi_a_23440358/
Le Monde website: http://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/live/2018/05/22/facebook-suivez-en-direct-la-confrontation-de-mark-zuckerberg-avec-les-eurodeputes_5302911_4408996.html
European Commission website: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/justice-and-fundamental-rights/data-protection/2018-reform-eu-data-protection-rules_en
