«This was only the start of what needs to be a thorough and transparent investigation of the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica Scandal. The format of the meeting was a farce, not allowing for any back and forth between Zuckerberg and the Members of Parliament, deplored S&D Group leader Udo Bullmann, following the meeting of representatives of the European Parliament with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. What this meeting made clear is that 75 minutes in a small and exclusive circle is not enough to shed light on the biggest data scandal in recent history. Zuckerberg did not answer many of the direct questions put to him, and the few answers that we heard were disappointing. It is unbelievable that, of all companies, Facebook is apparently not ready to be open on that matter. How can Zuckerberg claim to connect people if he himself is not ready to fully contribute to this? How can he continue earning billions and billions of dollars with users’ information and then refuse to be fully transparent? We will not allow for this kind of double standards. Facebook and other social media networks have a powerful position in the process of opinion making. In order to protect our democracies, we must make sure that this position is not abused. The Trump campaign and the alleged influence of Russian forces in political campaigns show how important that is. This is why we have to stop the extensive, secretive and indiscriminate data gathering and processing for algorithmic targeting. And that’s why we demand a further exchange with Zuckerberg and his high-level management with all relevant experts of the European Parliament for a more in-depth analysis»
Photo: Antonio Tajani, EP President meets with Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook / Photographe LDI – DBA – DHO / Copyright © European Union 2018 – Source: EP