Zuckerberg silent on repeal vote ad spend
MARK Zuckerberg has declined to say how much has been spent on Facebook advertisements on the Eighth Amendment referendum.
The Facebook founder was speaking before the European Parliament yesterday. As Zuckerberg took questions from parliament members, President of European Greens, Philippe Lamberts directly questioned him on whether or not Facebook will publish information on political advertising revenue, including the upcoming referendum in Ireland.
Mr Lamberts said he wanted to know the source of the advertising, how much it cost and what audience it targets. Mr Zuckerberg avoided the question, and was accused by parliament members of ducking many of the queries put to him during the session. He said that Facebook piloting a new tool in Ireland and Canada that allows users to get more information about advertisers.
Mr Zuckerberg was also asked about Co. Tyrone teenager Ronan Hughes, who took his own life in 2015 after being blackmailed into sharing intimate photos, and tackling the problem of fake accounts. The Facebook boss said the firm removed ‘580million fake accounts’ earlier this year.
He agreed to meet leaders of the European Parliament to answer questions about how political consultancy Cambridge Analytica got hold of the personal data of 87 million Facebook users.
In his opening remarks, Mr Zuckerberg said it had ‘become clear over the last couple of years that we haven’t done enough to prevent the tools we’ve built from being used for harm as well. 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.’
His comments, sitting at a circular table with EU Parliament leaders, echo an apology last month to US lawmakers. Questions remain over how Facebook let the leak happen and whether it is doing enough to prevent a recurrence.