Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg apologised to
the European Parliament on Tuesday and said
the social media giant is taking steps to prevent
a repeat of a massive breach of users ’
personal data .
Zuckerberg also pledged to keep investing in
Europe as he made the latest stop on a tour of
contrition over the Cambridge Analytica scandal
that began in the US Congress in April.
Zuckerberg told the livestreamed hearing in
Brussels that it has become clear in the last
two years that Facebook executives “ haven’ t
done enough to prevent these tools from being
used for harm ” .
“And that goes for fake news , foreign
interference in elections or developers
misusing people’ s information. We didn’ t take a
broad enough view of our responsibility ,” he
said.
“That was a mistake , and I ’ m sorry for it. ”
Facebook admitted that up to 87 million users
may have had their data hijacked by British
consultancy Cambridge Analytica, which worked
for US President Donald Trump during his 2016
campaign .
The Silicon Valley giant has told the European
Commission , the EU ’ s executive arm , that the
personal data of up to 2. 7 million Europeans
may have been sent inappropriately to
Cambridge Analytica, which has since filed for
bankruptcy in the US.
The Facebook chief welcomed the EU ’s
sweeping new personal data protection rules ,
which come into effect in three days, saying
that his website was adopting similar steps .
– ‘ Keeping people safe ’ –
Zuckerberg said Facebook was bringing in new
features including a special “clear history ”
button that would allow them to delete any
cookies or browsing history details it stores .
He also told the leaders of the European
Parliament ’s political groups that Facebook
would make fresh investments to protect its
users in the wake of the scandal.
“It ’ s going to take time to work through all of
the changes we must make . But I ’ m committed
to getting it right, and to making the significant
investments needed to keep people safe , ” he
added .
“I expect this will significantly impact our
profitability. But I want to be clear : keeping
people safe will always be more important than
maximising our profits . ”
Zuckerberg meanwhile admitted that Facebook
had been “ too slow to identify Russian
interfering” in the 2016 US presidential ballot ,
but was working with European governments
for future elections .
Facebook also serves a valuable social role
with tens of thousands of people having used
its Safety Check feature “after the recent
terrorist attacks in Berlin , Paris , London and
here in Brussels ” , Zuckerberg said .
The Facebook chief staged a U - turn on Monday
and agreed to the hearing being webcast , in a
further bid to limit the fallout from the data
scandal.
Angry EU lawmakers had objected to initial
plans for it to be held behind closed doors.
European Parliament President Antonio Tajani ,
who welcomed Zuckerberg to parliament , urged
him to ensure people’ s data was respected.
In April, Tajani rejected Zuckerberg ’s initial
offer to send a more junior executive in his
place , saying it would be a “big mistake ” for
him not to answer questions from an elected
body that regulates a market of 500 million
people, many of them Facebook users .
Tajani said MEPs want to know if “ people used
data for changing the position of the citizens” ,
including during the shock 2016 referendum
for Britain to leave the EU .
– ‘ Hear the truth’ –
Objecting to a closed - door hearing , MEPs
insisted Zuckerberg face a grilling similar to
his 10 - hour interrogation in US Congress last
month.
Guy Verhofstadt, who heads the ALDE liberals
group in parliament, dropped his plan to
boycott the event now that it would be
“transparent and public ” .
Inviting Europeans to send him questions for
Zuckerberg, Verhofstadt, a former Belgian
prime minister, tweeted that EU citizens
“deserve to hear the truth ” .
EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova recently
paid Zuckerberg a backhanded compliment for
having admitted that the Facebook scandal
showed the need for strict new rules despite
the reluctance of US internet giants .
The EU ’ s General Data Protection Regulation
(GDPR ), which comes into effect on Friday ,
aims to give users more control over how their
personal information is stored and used online ,
with big fines for firms that break the rules .
Zuckerberg, who has repeatedly apologised for
the massive data breach , told the US Congress
in April that the more stringent EU rules could
serve as a model globally .
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