Today, the European Parliament Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committee backed a report pushed for by the S&D Group looking at the Facebook/ Cambridge Analytica scandal. The report follows a series of hearings with representatives from Facebook, data experts, as well as the journalists and whistle-blowers who brought the scandal, involving the misuse of millions of Facebook users’ data, to light.
S&D Group president Udo Bullmann said:
“The S&D Group was the first one to call for an investigation by the European Parliament into the Facebook/ Cambridge Analytica scandal. In March this year, the Guardian and New York times broke the story that up to 87 million Facebook users’ data was harvested by Cambridge Analytica to be used for political purposes. The scandal highlighted huge gaps in how Facebook protected users’ data from misuse and also raised worrying questions about how to protect our democracies from manipulation in the digital age. We are convinced that we need more stringent rules on the European level to ensure democratic control of giant tech corporations.
“We have repeatedly urged Facebook to do more to prevent manipulation of voters. Facebook must outline how exactly they are going to act to ensure that there is no attempt to manipulate the European elections next year, and how they are acting to stop the spread of fake accounts. These fake accounts with no person behind are responsible for spreading misinformation, while also increasing traffic on Facebook and boosting their profits. This is not acceptable. We want clear answers on how Facebook is working to shut these accounts.
“Europe also needs to do more to protect citizens’ data and privacy online. We took a big step forward with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), however this is only part of the answer. National governments must finalise the ePrivacy regulation, which will put users back in control of how their privacy online. Thanks to the S&D Group, the Parliament has adopted a strong position on the regulation and we urge member states to finalise these proposals as soon as possible.
“Fighting to protect your rights online is now as vital as protecting them offline. The internet is an incredible tool for good in the world but we need to ensure that we have high standards for privacy and data protection, this is fundamental for protecting individual freedom and democracy in the 21st Century.”
