The European Parliament is demanding that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg address in person a debate on data protection and citizens’ privacy with the European Commission and the Council on April 18. The MEPs want to question him about the effects of social media, fake news and election manipulation on democratic processes.
Earlier this month, Facebook admitted that as many as 87m users may have had their data hijacked by British consultancy Cambridge Analytica, which worked for US President Donald Trump during his 2016 campaign.
According to a European Parliament press release, Parliament President Antonio Tajani invited Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to the Parliament after the revelations surfaced.
In related news, Facebook users in Europe will soon be asked to adjust their privacy settings as the company seeks to comply with new legislation that goes into effect on May 25.
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires companies to get explicit consent from users to share data with third parties. People will also have the right to know what information the company has gathered and demand it to be deleted.
