EU gets little news from Zuckerberg
BRUSSELS — Facebook Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg sailed through a grilling from European Union (EU) lawmakers about the social network’s data policies as lengthy questions left the 34-year-old American little time to answer.
Betraying little emotion, Mr. Zuckerberg apologized to leaders of the European Parliament in Brussels for a massive data leak, in his latest attempt to draw a line under the damaging scandal.
However, he avoided answering numerous specific questions, notably around opt-outs from targeted advertising, the sharing of data between Facebook and its messaging service WhatsApp, as well as Facebook’s collection of data on non-users.
He spoke for over half an hour in total, mostly repeating assurances and descriptions of Facebook plans that he detailed to US lawmakers during 10 hours of hearings in Washington last month. Though some questions were sharp, there was no chance for the Europeans to follow up if they felt the answers fell short.
Investment analysts heard little new and Facebook’s share price showed no reaction to the event, holding at the level to which it has recovered after taking a hit on the scandal.
“I asked you six ‘yes or no’ questions; I got not a single answer,” said Philippe Lamberts of the Greens, one of 12 party leaders and lead legislators whose questions to Mr. Zuckerberg took up nearly half of a hearing — broadcast live after complaints about an original plan for a closed-door meeting.
Mr. Zuckerberg had agreed to meet the lawmakers to answer questions about how political consultancy Cambridge Analytica improperly got hold of the personal data of 87 million Facebook users, including up to 2.7 million in the EU.
‘SORRY’ AND SOUVENIRS
He used an initial 10-minute address to apologize. “That was a mistake and I am sorry for it,” he said. Not enough was done to prevent the breach, he added, promising the company was now better prepared and was working on further improvements.
The dozen MEPs (Members of European Parliament) then asked their questions, ranging from the German conservative leader asking Mr. Zuckerberg why his giant firm should not be broken up as a monopoly to complaints from Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, and an ally of French nationalist Marine Le Pen, that Facebook was now biased against right-wing parties.
That left barely 10 more minutes of the allotted time for replies — though Mr. Zuckerberg spoke for a further quarter hour before the Italian speaker of the legislature, President Antonio Tajani, brought a somewhat disorderly halt to proceedings.
Over shouted complaints and repeated questions, the Facebook CEO and his adviser promised follow-up written answers; at least one lawmaker, Swedish liberal Cecilia Wikstrom, also found time to pose for a souvenir photo with the youthful tech supremo, who uncharacteristically wore a dark suit and tie for the occasion.
British Conservative Syed Kamall complained the hearing was a “get-out-of-jail-free card” for Mr. Zuckerberg and said Facebook’s reluctance to detail some of its workings left regulators trying to “cure a disease without knowing what the illness is.”
The MEPs also faced criticism. Dominique Deckmyn of Belgian paper tweeted: “First, they used up all their time speaking to make themselves look good, then complained loudly that Mr. Zuckerberg had no time left to answer.”
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.”
His comments echoed an apology last month to US lawmakers. But questions remain over how Facebook let the leak happen and whether it is doing enough to prevent a recurrence.
Mr. Zuckerberg’s appearance in Brussels came three days before tough new EU rules on data protection take effect. Companies will be subject to fines of up to 4% of global turnover for breaching them.
Mr. Zuckerberg said Facebook expected to be compliant with the EU rules, called the General Data Protection Regulation, when they come into force on Friday, stressing a commitment to Europe where Facebook will employ 10,000 people by the end of the year.
He avoided giving details about how non-Facebook users could stop the company from collecting their data, abruptly changing the subject to the company’s relationship with third-party apps.
Last month, Facebook said it had no plans to build a tool to allow non-users to find out what the company knows about them, something that US lawmakers had asked about. —