British Parliament accuses Facebook of deliberate breaches of data protection
The British Parliament has accused Facebook of deliberately violating data protection and competition laws.
"Companies like Facebook, which see themselves before and above the law, should not be allowed to act like 'digital gangsters' in the online world," says a report presented on Monday.
The Culture Committee had previously conducted an 18-month investigation. Committee chairman Damian Collins explained that the US company had tried to undo the committee's work "through incomplete, disingenuous and sometimes misleading answers to our questions".
The parliamentary committee had spent months investigating Facebook's role in disinformation campaigns and "fake news" and the impact on votes in the UK, such as the 2016 Brexit referendum. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg refused to appear before the committee of inquiry despite repeated requests.
The report now recommends that the British government carry out an independent investigation into previous elections and referendums with a view to foreign influence.
The committee is also pushing for a mandatory code of conduct for all technology companies, which should be monitored by an independent regulatory authority. Online networks such as Facebook cannot "hide behind the claim" that they are only a "platform" and not responsible for their content.
In a response published by British media, Facebook stated that the company is "open to sensible regulation" and supports "the Committee's recommendation for electoral reform". At the same time, however, it said: "No other political advertising platform is as transparent and offers the tools we do." (SDA)
