FACEBOOK behaved like a “digital gangster” by deliberately breaking privacy and competition law, UK MPs have said.
A Commons committee said the tech giant needs much stricter regulation to tackle the spread of fake news after Mark Zuckerberg failed to show leadership.
In a damning report, British lawmakers said internal documents showed Facebook “violated” laws by selling people’s private data without their permission and by crushing rivals through anti-competitive behaviour.
“Companies like Facebook should not be allowed to behave like ‘digital gangsters’ in the online world…considering themselves to be ahead of and beyond the law,” the report states.
The UK parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee said that for years, Facebook was willing to “override its users’ privacy settings” as part of a campaign to maximise revenue derived from such sensitive information.
UNTRUE STORIES ‘RISKING DEMOCRACY’
British MPs have called on Facebook and other big tech companies to be subject to a compulsory code of ethics to tackle the spread of fake news and the abuse of users’ data.
Untrue stories from foreign powers were risking the UK’s democracy, the committee said.
“The guiding principle of the ‘move fast and break things’ culture often seems to be that it is better to apologise than ask permission,” committee chairman Damian Collins said.
“We need a radical shift in the balance of power between the platforms and the people.”
NEED STRICTER REGULATION
Collins said the age of inadequate self-regulation must come to an end.
“The rights of the citizen need to be established in statute, by requiring the tech companies to adhere to a code of conduct written into law by Parliament, and overseen by an independent regulator,” he said.
Facebook became the focus of the committee’s 18-month inquiry after whistleblower Christopher Wylie alleged that political consultancy Cambridge Analytica had obtained the data of millions of users of the social network.
Zuckerberg apologised last year for a “breach of trust” over the scandal.
BUCK UP ZUCK: What did the report call for?
- A compulsory code of ethics for tech companies, overseen by an independent regulator.
- The regulator to be given powers to launch legal action if companies breach the code.
- The government to reform current electoral laws and rules on overseas involvement in UK elections.
- Social media companies to be forced to take down known sources of harmful content, including proven sources of disinformation.
- Tech companies operating in the UK to be taxed to help fund the work for the Information Commissioner’s Office and any new regulator set up to oversee them.
But the CEO refused to appear three times before British lawmakers, a stance that showed “contempt” towards parliament and the members of nine legislatures from around the world, the committee said.
“We believe that in its evidence to the committee Facebook has often deliberately sought to frustrate our work, by giving incomplete, disingenuous and at times misleading answers to our questions,” Collins said.
“Mark Zuckerberg continually fails to show the levels of leadership and personal responsibility that should be expected from someone who sits at the top of one of the world’s biggest companies.”
The lawmaker identified major threats to society from the dominance of tech companies such as Facebook – which also owns WhatsApp and Instagram – Google and Twitter.
Democracy was at risk from the malicious and relentless targeting of citizens with disinformation and personalised adverts from unidentifiable sources, they said.
And social media platforms were failing to act against harmful content and respect the privacy of users.
Companies like Facebook were also using their size to bully smaller firms that relied on social media platforms to reach customers, it added.
In response, Facebook said: “We share the Committee’s concerns about false news and election integrity and are pleased to have made a significant contribution to their investigation over the past 18 months, answering more than 700 questions and with four of our most senior executives giving evidence.
MOST READ IN NEWS
“We are open to meaningful regulation and support the committee’s recommendation for electoral law reform. But we’re not waiting.
“We have already made substantial changes so that every political ad on Facebook has to be authorised, state who is paying for it and then is stored in a searchable archive for seven years.
“No other channel for political advertising is as transparent and offers the tools that we do.”
https://textbacklinkexchanges.com/facebook-branded-digital-gangster-by-mps-for-deliberately-breaking-law-by-selling-private-data-without-permission/
News Photo Facebook branded ‘digital gangster’ by MPs for deliberately breaking law by selling private data without permission
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