US lawmakers demand Facebook to come clean over Chinese data sharing

Facebook Inc faced criticism on Wednesday from Republican and Democratic US lawmakers who demanded that the social media company be more forthcoming about data it has shared with four Chinese firms. 

The bipartisan criticism reflected rising frustration in Congress about how Facebook protects the privacy of the more than 2 billion people who use its services worldwide. The leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee accused Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg of failing to disclose the company’s agreements with the Chinese firms when he appeared before them in April and testified about Facebook’s sharing of users’ personal information with third parties.

Facebook argues against company break-up, says 'we keep you safe'

Faced with new questions about whether it’s a monopoly, Facebook Inc. is making a bold argument: owning so many communications platforms helps keep users safe.

On Tuesday, the European Parliament asked Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg whether he should be allowed to own two of the world’s largest chat applications, Messenger and WhatsApp, in addition to the biggest social network and the photo app Instagram. The company answered Wednesday in an online post, saying there are “many consumer benefits” to having Facebook control so much of the world’s communication. “By working together we have been able to improve safety across all these services," the company wrote. When Facebook sees spam, exploitative images or illegal content, for example, it can obliterate it on all platforms at once.

European regulators may not buy the argument, especially since they spent some of Tuesday’s hearing critiquing Facebook for not being effective enough in its treatment of harmful content. Though Facebook is investing in computer-based solutions, the company still relies heavily on users to flag the worst offenders on its apps. Also, Facebook has shown it doesn’t necessarily have to own something to help keep it safe. The social network shares its tips on terrorist content with other companies, including Twitter Inc. and Google, through the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, for example.

Facebook data beach: Zuckerberg to meet European Parliament next week

Social media networking site Facebook confirms meeting with European parliament to discuss the growing online data-privacy concerns.

As reported by the New York Times, the meeting is scheduled to take place sometime next week where Facebook founder-CEO Mark Zuckerberg will discuss the issue of the data breach by data analytics company Cambridge Analytica.

It is touted be a closed-door meeting to be attended by leaders of the various political groups.

Leaders of the European Parliament's various blocs and the head of the body's civil liberties committee which is holding hearings on the ongoing Facebook data breach case will be the part of the meeting.

Further, Zuckerberg is scheduled to have lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss a range of issues.

Facebook trying to weaken WhatsApp privacy? Co-founder Jan Koum quits

The co-founder of WhatsApp, a messaging service owned by Facebook Inc with more than 1 billion daily users, said on Monday he was leaving the company, in a loss of one of the strongest advocates for privacy inside Facebook.

Jan Koum's plan to exit comes after clashing with the parent company over WhatApp's strategy and Facebook's attempts to use its personal data and weaken its encryption, the Washington Post earlier reported, citing people familiar with the internal discussions.

"It's been almost a decade since Brian and I started WhatsApp, and it's been an amazing journey with some of the best people," Koum, WhatsApp's chief executive, said in a post on his Facebook page referring to co-founder Brian Acton.

"But it is time for me to move on." He did not give a date for his departure and could not immediately be reached for comment.

Acton left the messaging service company in September to start a foundation, after spending eight years with WhatsApp.

Zuckerberg's Congress testimony is over, but scrutiny is just ramping up

For 14 years, Mark Zuckerberg was free to use any means he could imagine to build his social network into an internet and advertising colossus with tens of billions of dollars in revenue. Now Congress is waking up to what that freedom meant for Facebook Inc users.

The chief executive officer’s first congressional testimony -- roughly 10 hours answering to US Senate and House lawmakers over the past two days -- kick-started a new era of government scrutiny of Facebook, whose swift emergence outpaced any regulations on the books at its founding. While questions ranged from data privacy to prescription drug sales to employee diversity, most lines of inquiry highlighted the challenge of trying to grasp and confront Facebook’s immense power in consumers’ lives, in ways most of its users don’t completely understand.

Congress is looking more broadly at Facebook’s reach, beyond the user data leaks that brought Zuckerberg to testify. While investors were cheered by Zuckerberg’s calm responses to barrages of questions, many lawmakers have begun to express outrage at the ways the company has run its business for years. There were dozens of unanswered or follow-up questions that the executive promised his team would respond to later, and some of his talking points aren’t likely to hold up to future analysis.

Six takeaways from Mark Zuckerberg's time in the Senate spotlight

In some ways, Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg might be relieved. He prepared for harder questions than he got during his first testimony before US lawmakers.

No senator asked him, for example, about whether he should resign from Facebook - a question Zuckerberg would have answered by saying he has solved big problems before, according to a snapshot of his notes from the Associated Press. Or about the fact that malicious actors may have abused Facebook’s search feature to scrape data on a majority of its 2 billion users, which, he would have explained, the company has resolved so it doesn’t happen again in the future.

The executive had to clear up a few misconceptions about his product in exchanges with senators that came with a touch of irony, considering how misinformation is known to spread on his social network. No, Zuckerberg said, Facebook doesn’t sell data to advertisers or anyone else. (Instead, it has an ad-targeting system that allows advertisers to reach users based on their interests and activity without ever seeing their names.) Facebook also isn’t listening to people’s conversations via their phones’ microphones, or trying to silence conservative voices, he said.

But there were some hard-hitting questions. And in five hours of testimony before a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees, the 33-year-old ducked some, skirted around others, but answered most of them. Here are the top takeaways:

'Who is going to protect us from Facebook?': US lawmakers ask Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg was confronted Wednesday by lawmakers scoffing at his apologies over lapses in protecting user privacy and pledges to do better, with one member asking, “Who’s going to protect us from Facebook?”

The question by Representative Janice Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat, was echoed by members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee from both parties as the founder of Facebook Inc. was questioned on Capitol Hill for a second consecutive day.

Representative Greg Walden of Oregon, the House panel’s Republican chairman, said Zuckerberg needed to account for “alarming reports of breaches of trust between your company -- one of the biggest and most powerful in the world -- and its users.”

While the criticism was bipartisan, members of the Democratic minority were more assertive in saying expanded government regulation is the answer.

Will ensure fair elections in India: Mark Zuckerberg at senate hearing

Testifying before US senators in the wake of Facebook's data breach scandal and foreign interference in election, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has told them that his company will do everything to ensure fair polling takes place in India and other countries.

"2018 is an important year for the whole world. Several countries like India, Pakistan will have elections. We'll do everything possible to ensure these elections are safe," Zuckerberg said in the joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees, at the Capitol Hill here.

Earlier, the CEO and founder of the world's most popular social networking website said he was "sorry" that Facebook did not take a "broad enough view" of the responsibility when their platform was being used for circulating fake news and was becoming a tool for foreign interference in elections.

The 33-year-old billionaire also expressed regret that his company was slow in identifying the Russian operations in 2016, which allegedly benefitted the then presidential candidate, Donald Trump, who is now USA's 45th president.

Why Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is winning the US Senate hearings

Mark Zuckerberg did just fine in his first turn in the Congressional hot seat. He was confident. He capably tackled many of the queries proposed last week by Bloomberg columnists. The 33-year-old billionaire appeared humble throughout much of the hearing, with only a few smug smiles.

The best news for Facebook Inc. the company was that Zuckerberg ably deflected any challenges to the beating heart of its economic model: its hungry data collection and the fine-tuned targeted advertising based on that data. Zuckerberg's success is a win for anyone primarily concerned with the company's market value. But it's a loss for the rest of us.

Facebook will keep failing users' trust as long as its business is based on unrestrained hoovering of as much user data as possible, and crafting ever-more innovative ways for advertisers to harness that information for commercial goals. It's an arrangement to which Facebook's users agree and can sidestep, technically, but it is hardly informed consent or a real option to avoid. 

Jack Ma urges Zuckerberg to 'fix' Facebook and to 'take it seriously'

Jack Ma, the billionaire co-founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, urged Mark Zuckerberg to tackle the growing criticism aimed at Facebook Inc. by regulators and users around the world, and “really take it seriously.”

China’s richest man and chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. on Monday weighed in on the controversy, calling on his fellow internet pioneer to “fix” a social network that had grown explosively over the past decade and a half. Asked at the Boao Forum about the Facebook furor, the billionaire started dismissing questions but then couldn’t help opining on the crisis facing the U.S. company.

Facebook’s shares have tumbled since the company disclosed in March that it may have shared the personal data of tens of millions of users with Cambridge Analytica, a research firm that helped elect President Donald Trump. Enraged users launched a #deletefacebook campaign and regulators around the world are investigating its handling of sensitive personal information.

“It is the time to fix it. It is the time for the CEO to really take it seriously. I think the problems will be solved,” Ma told delegates to the annual conference on the sunny island of Hainan.

After Cambridge Analytica row, Facebook to now verify advertiser's identity

Facebook will not allow political ads on its platform until the advertiser's identity is verified and the entity paying for the message is mentioned, the social media giant has announced, in a bid to improve its transparency and accountability around political campaigns.

The social networking platform, under fire over allegations that it was being used for influencing polls, said those who want to buy political or issue ads will have to reveal their identities and verify where they are.

Facebook announced the move as its CEO Mark Zuckerberg is set to appear before Congress next week to answer questions about the harvesting of personal data on 87 million users by Cambridge Analytica, a British political consultancy working for President Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

"Advertisers will be prohibited from running political ads electoral or issue-based until they are authorised, Facebook said, announcing plans to make advertisements on its platform more transparent.

Facebook data row: Zuckerberg to appear for Senate testimony on April 10

Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg will appear before a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees next Tuesday, the chairmen of those panels said on Wednesday night.

“Our joint hearing will be a public conversation with the CEO of this powerful and influential company about his vision for addressing problems that have generated significant concern about Facebook’s role in our democracy, bad actors using the platform, and user privacy,” the Commerce Committee chairman, Senator John Thune of South Dakota, said in a statement.

Zuckerberg had already agreed to appear before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday, April 11, the chairman and top Democrat on that committee announced Wednesday.

Zuckerberg defends Facebook's ad-driven model as a way to connect people

Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said it will take “a few years” to solve the issues plaguing the social media company.

“I wish I could solve all these issues in three months or six months, but I just think the reality is that solving some of these questions is just going to take a longer period of time,” he said in a podcast interview with media publication Vox.

The company started investing more in security at least a year ago, Zuckerberg said,“so if this is going to be a three-year process, then I think we’re about a year in already. Hopefully by the end of this year, we’ll have really started to turn the corner on some of these issues.”

Zuckerberg is trying to steer Facebook through one of its worst public crises, after revelations that Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm that worked on President Donald Trump’s election campaign, obtained the private data of some 50 million Facebook users. Facebook’s shares have dropped about 14 percent since the news emerged and Zuckerberg has been called to testify before Congress in coming weeks. Politicians in the UK and the European Union have also requested Zuckerberg to come explain how Facebook protects the privacy of its 2 billion monthly users, and Missouri’s attorney general announced Monday that he is launching a wide-ranging probe into Facebook.

Regret dismissing fake news' influence: Zuckerberg after Trump attacks FB

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has responded to United States President Donald Trump after he claimed that "Facebook was always anti-Trump."

"Trump says Facebook is against him. Liberals say we helped Trump," Zuckerberg said in a statement posted on Facebook.
"Both sides are upset about ideas and content they don't like. That's what running a platform for all ideas looks like," he added.

Zuckerberg added that he regrets his earlier comments dismissing the idea that "fake news on Facebook" shaped the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.

"After the election, I made a comment that I thought the idea misinformation on Facebook changed the outcome of the election was a crazy idea. Calling that crazy was dismissive and I regret it," he said.
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Here is why Mark Zuckerberg can't be blocked on Facebook

The Facebook profiles of Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan cannot be blocked because they have reportedly been blocked so many times that the social media giant is stopping it happening.

When people do not want to see your posts, they will either unfriend you, stop following you or they will block you.

If you press the block button on both of their profiles, a message saying "Block Error" will be returned -- meaning that there "was a problem while blocking Mark Zuckerberg or Priscilla Chan" and you should "try again".

Zuckerberg writes a lot about updates to Facebook and news about his personal life or statements on current events on his personal page.

According to a report in The Independent, those posts then seem to benefit from help from the Facebook algorithm and are interacted with, pushing them onto people's news feeds.

Blocking the Facebook founder and his wife was a useful way of keeping those posts from appearing before it was banned.

The ban has been in place since 2010 and even led to a now-defunct website that exists only to point out that it's impossible to block Zuckerberg, the report pointed out.
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Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan welcome baby girl August in Facebook post

Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife welcomed their second daughter -- August -- to the world today with a post on the leading social network.

As they did with after the birth of their first daughter, Maxima, in late 2015, the couple wrote the girl a letter, but this one spoke of reveling in the wonder of childhood instead of visions of a better world on the horizon.

"You only get to be a child once, so don't spend it worrying too much about the future," said the letter signed by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan.

"You've got us for that, and we'll do everything we possibly can to make sure the world is a better place for you and all children in your generation."

A Zuckerberg Chan Initiative established by the couple has pledged billions of dollars to improving life for their children's generation with goals such as eliminating disease.

The Facebook co-founder is among billionaires who have vowed to donate most of their wealth to
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Zuckerberg takes on Trump on immigration, calls US a nation of immigrants

Latest News - Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to his social network to criticise US President Donald Trump's anti-immigration policies and his plans to build a wall along the border with Mexico.

In his first week in the White House, Trump signed executive orders for the border wall, withholding federal funding from sanctuary cities and blocking refugees from nations like Iran, Iraq, Libya and Syria.

"Like many of you, I'm concerned about the impact of the recent executive orders signed by President Trump. We need to keep this country safe, but we should do that by focusing on people who actually pose a threat," Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post on Friday. (Read More)