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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before the United States Senate on Capitol Hill about the Cambridge Analytica scandal in April 2018. Alex Edelman/Zuma Press/PA Images

'Digital gangsters' at Facebook knowingly violated data privacy and 'bullied' other tech companies

A report by the UK government has examined the tech giant’s role in spreading fake news.

FACEBOOK INTENTIONALLY AND knowingly violated both data privacy and anti-competition laws, according to a new report from the UK government.

The social media giant and its executives were referred to as “digital gangsters” in the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee’s report.

The document was released today after an 18-month investigation into fake news and Facebook’s privacy practices.

“Companies like Facebook should not be allowed to behave like ‘digital gangsters’ in the online world, considering themselves to be ahead of and beyond the law,” the report states.

The investigation was launched in 2017 amid growing concerns about the influence of false information and its ability to spread on social media, potentially impacting elections.

In March 2018, the Observer, the New York Times and Channel 4 revealed that Cambridge Analytica had secretly acquired data harvested from tens of millions of Facebook users’ profiles.

The firm, best known for its work on Donald Trump’s US presidential election campaign, sold the data to political clients and used it design software to predict and influence voters’ choices at the ballot box.

Up to 87 million people were affected by the data breach, the largest in Facebook’s history. Cambridge Analytica has since collapsed into administration.

The report has called for the following:

  • Compulsory Code of Ethics for tech companies overseen by independent regulator
  • Regulator given powers to launch legal action against companies breaching code
  • Government to reform current electoral communications laws and rules on overseas involvement in UK elections
  • Social media companies obliged to take down known sources of harmful content, including proven sources of disinformation

‘Democracy is at risk’ 

Speaking about the investigation, Damian Collins, MP and chair of the DCMS committee, said “three big threats to our society” were identified.

“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 everyday. Much of this is directed from agencies working in foreign countries, including Russia.

“The big tech companies are failing in the duty of care they owe to their users to act against harmful content, and to respect their data privacy rights.

Companies like Facebook exercise massive market power which enables them to make money by bullying the smaller technology companies and developers who rely on this platform to reach their customers.

“These are issues that the major tech companies are well aware of, yet continually fail to address. The guiding principle of the ‘move fast and break things’ culture often seems to be that it is better to apologise than ask permission.”

Collins said “a radical shift in the balance of power between the platforms and the people” is needed, adding: “The age of inadequate self-regulation must come to an end.”

He said the inquiry also found that electoral regulations in the UK are “hopelessly out of date for the internet age” and need to be reformed.

Zuckerberg still ‘ducking questions’

Collins stated that if Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg “doesn’t believe he is accountable to the UK Parliament, he is to the billions of Facebook users across the world”.

Zuckerberg “still has questions to answer yet he’s continued to duck them, refusing to respond to our invitations directly or sending representatives who don’t have the right information”.

“[He] 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.

Russian disinformation and Brexit 

The committee has repeatedly asked Facebook in written correspondence and oral evidence about Russian activity on Facebook and knowledge of Russian advertisements that ran during the presidential election in America in 2016.

The New York Times reported in November 2018 that Facebook had discovered Russian-linked activity on its site in 2016, attempting to disrupt the US election.

MPs have concluded that two senior executives from Facebook who appeared as witnesses left them with the impression they had “deliberately misled the committee or they were deliberately not briefed by senior executives at Facebook, about the extent of Russian interference in foreign elections”.

The report calls on the UK government to make a statement about how many investigations are currently being carried out into Russian interference in UK politics. It notes that MPs want to find out what impact this may have had on previous British elections and the Brexit referendum in 2016. 

Hefty fines 

The report repeats a number of recommendations from the committee interim report published last summer. It calls for the government to reconsider a number of recommendations to which it did not respond and to include concrete proposals for action in its forthcoming White Paper on online harms.

The document recommends that clear legal liabilities be established for tech companies to act against harmful or illegal content on their sites, and calls for a compulsory Code of Ethics defining what constitutes harmful content.

An independent regulator should be responsible for monitoring tech companies, backed by statutory powers to launch legal action against companies in breach of the code. Companies failing obligations on harmful or illegal content should face hefty fines, the report states. 

Social media companies cannot hide behind the claim of being merely a ‘platform’ and maintain that they have no responsibility themselves in regulating the content of their sites.

It repeats its recommendation for new independent regulation to be funded by a levy on tech companies operating in the UK.

Abusive content 

Responding to the report, Facebook said it was “pleased to have made a significant contribution” to the committee’s investigation by answering over 700 questions.

“We are open to meaningful regulation and support the committee’s recommendation for electoral law reform,” said Karim Palant, the company’s UK public policy manager, said in a statement.

We have already made substantial changes so that every political ad on Facebook has to be authorised, state who is paying for it and then is stored in a searchable archive for seven years.

Palant said Facebook supports privacy legislation and has made recent changes in this regard, stating: “While we still have more to do, we are not the same company we were a year ago.”

He added that Facebook has increased its team working on abusive content to 30,000 people and “invested heavily in machine learning, artificial intelligence and computer vision technology to help prevent this type of abuse”.

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16 Comments
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    Mute Larry Doherty
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    Aug 2nd 2019, 2:44 PM

    One line states: “Now, the US is free to develop weapons systems that were previously banned.” and the very next line states: “The US is planning a test flight of such a weapon in coming weeks.”

    Rather than being “years away”, it looks like the USA was out of the treaty long ago and developing new weapons all along. Typical lying USA approach to everything.

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    Mute Dominic Leleu
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    Aug 2nd 2019, 8:08 PM

    @Larry Doherty: do you really think any of them followed the rules ?

    12
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    Mute Derek
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    Aug 2nd 2019, 2:10 PM

    The double standards are hilarious, they pulled out of the Iran deal and for 2 years of complying to the deal under more economic sanctions Iran begins further enrichment again and the US throw a hissy fit.

    146
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    Mute George Vladisavljevic
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    Aug 2nd 2019, 3:02 PM

    Amazing how a nation of some 330 million is dictating to the rest of the planets 8 billion people what to do as well as who they are allowed to deal with.

    America first, and what about the rest?

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    Mute Jack Simpson
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    Aug 2nd 2019, 2:12 PM

    This is nothing new for the US. They have a habit of pulling out of agreements. They pulled out of the ABM treaty with Russia in the 00s.

    79
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    Mute Bruce Van der Gutschmitzer
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    Aug 2nd 2019, 3:19 PM

    @Jack Simpson: shame Donald’s aul lad didn’t pull out

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    Mute Cormac Ó Braonáin
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    Aug 2nd 2019, 7:41 PM

    @Jack Simpson: the US’ history is breaking treaties and agreements. Even at the very start of their history, making treaties with the native Americans knowing full well they’d plan to break them. It’s part of their culture and who they are.

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    Mute Stephen Coveney
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    Aug 4th 2019, 7:08 AM

    @Cormac Ó Braonáin: while putin and russia are saints… my god cant people realise both countries are sneaky. Fact is though the media can be a check against corruption in the US while russia will just jail them

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    Mute lyndon
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    Aug 2nd 2019, 1:51 PM

    Watch “The Great Hack” on Netflix. The place is goosed.

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    Mute Larry Doherty
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    Aug 2nd 2019, 3:06 PM

    USA – the World’s bully along with its belligerent child, Israel. While not a supporter of extreme Islamics, their description of the USA as “the Great Satan” is hard to contest.

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    Mute Mark Gough
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    Aug 2nd 2019, 3:54 PM

    About time we showed the US that we will not support their bullying. Britain seems to be content with being their lap dog but there are plenty of ways to show Russia we can be friends

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    Mute GrahamMManning
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    Aug 2nd 2019, 4:23 PM

    @Mark Gough: yeah cos Russia is the lesser of two evils.

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    Mute paul
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    Aug 2nd 2019, 6:26 PM

    @Mark Gough: Britain is the US lapdog ? Britain is independent and steps in when required. Yeah sure they have got it wrong at times, but they try to do their moral duty, unlike some who prefer to remain neutral, not get involved, let someone else take the burden.

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    Mute Cormac Ó Braonáin
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    Aug 2nd 2019, 7:47 PM

    @paul: ‘when required’. Exactly! That was his point!

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    Mute paul
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    Aug 2nd 2019, 7:54 PM

    @Cormac Ó Braonáin: whats up mate ? Don’t worry yourself

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    Mute Tony Harris
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    Aug 2nd 2019, 10:08 PM

    @paul: Steos in when required! WMD???????? Lapdog.

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    Mute Micheál
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    Aug 2nd 2019, 10:38 PM

    @paul:
    A sneaking regarder of British imperialism?

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    Mute paul
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    Aug 3rd 2019, 12:49 AM

    @Micheál: British imperialism ? Get a grip , it’s 2019

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    Mute paul
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    Aug 3rd 2019, 12:50 AM

    @Tony Harris: keep your hair on tony

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    Mute Cormac Ó Braonáin
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    Aug 3rd 2019, 5:39 PM

    @paul: the projection is strong in this one.

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    Mute Stephen Coveney
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    Aug 4th 2019, 7:04 AM

    @Mark Gough: no one wants to be friends with russia. If they cant even let opposition politicians run in mayoral elections without poisoning them id prefer if they stayed away

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    Mute Colm Walsh
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    Aug 2nd 2019, 4:53 PM

    Us talking shite as per usual

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    Mute Mark walsh
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    Aug 2nd 2019, 7:07 PM

    Ah lads at least we are a natural country

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    Mute TamuMassif2019
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    Aug 4th 2019, 1:39 PM

    But Russia destroyed all of its arsenal according to that treaty than the US and Trump just wants out of that deal in order to make these weapons himself and to sell them onto other countries. Trump doesn’t want peace he wants to make and sell weapons around the world and use Nato as a way to sell weapons to NATO countries. Trump is unbelievable…

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    Mute The decline of Manchester United
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    Aug 3rd 2019, 10:05 PM

    Russia is the most dangerous threat to Western democracy. We should boycott all their goods, oh wait….

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    Mute TamuMassif2019
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    Aug 4th 2019, 1:46 PM

    @The decline of Manchester United: No it isn’t thats the spin put on by those who are threatening Russia, making out Russia is a threat is cold war bull in order to sell weapons to NATO countries who try to provoke Russia by playing their war games just beside their border. The US removed 72 legitimate governments since the end of WW2 due to business interests, the CIA trained and helped put into power Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, the Taliban, and with the UK helped put in Pinochet so that the US could get their hands onto their copper ore as well as helped the rise of Isil. So who is the greatest threat to the world but the US especially now as Trump has started the US MILLITARY research into Biological weapons as I guess that he will sell that knowing him as he uses Russia as a threat to sell weapons to NATO countries…

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