The Culture Committee of Mps said, Facebook deliberately breaking law by selling private data without permission and should be regulated urgently.
The committee said internal documents it obtained showed Facebook “violated” laws by selling people’s private data without their permission and by crushing rivals through anti-competitive behaviour.
They also mentioned, social media sites should not be able to behave like ‘digital gangsters’, considering themselves beyond the law.
MPs accused Mark Zuckerberg of lying. The strong words come after Parliament used its legal powers to seize internal Facebook documents after chief executive Mark Zuckerberg refused to answer its questions last year.
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”.
The 108-page report makes excoriating reading for the social media giant, which is accused of continuing to prioritise shareholders’ profits over users’ privacy rights.
“Facebook continues to choose profit over data security, taking risks in order to prioritise their aim of making money from user data,” the report states, accusing the company of covering up leaks of user data. “It seems clear to us that Facebook acts only when serious breaches become public.”
Watson agreed. “Few individuals have shown contempt for our parliamentary democracy in the way Mark Zuckerberg has,” he said. “If one thing is uniting politicians of all colours during this difficult time for our country, it is our determination to bring him and his company into line.”
“Democracy is at risk from the malicious and relentless targeting of citizens with disinformation and personalised ‘dark adverts’ from unidentifiable sources, delivered through the major social media platforms we use every day,” warned the committee’s chairman, Damian Collins.
“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,” Collins added in a statement.
>Juthy Saha
Facebook Criticize as “Digital Gangster” by UK Mps
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