French report over social networks' regulation increases pressure on Facebook

Published May 10, 2019
CEO and co-founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg poses prior to a meeting with French President at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on May 10, 2019. — AFP
CEO and co-founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg poses prior to a meeting with French President at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on May 10, 2019. — AFP

A group of top French experts on Friday slammed efforts by social networks to self-regulate and their "lack of credibility" as President Emmanuel Macron met Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg for talks.

The leading officials and experts commissioned by the French government called for regulation of the group and other online platforms after being given unprecedented access in recent months to Facebook's operations.

Zuckerberg met Macron at the Elysee Palace on Friday, facing new pressure to crack down on the spread of disinformation as well as a call from a co-founder of Facebook for the California-based giant to be broken up.

The French report called “Creating a French Response to Make Social Media Responsible”, was drawn up by experts and top French civil servants and has been submitted to France's digital ministry.

It acknowledged the huge freedoms offered by social media in the modern world, but said that “the capacities offered by social media provoke unacceptable abuses of these liberties".

"These abuses by individuals or groups have not yet received a satisfactory response from Facebook, YouTube, Twitter or Snap, to name but some," it said.

The report said that the response by big social media groups like Facebook to abuses and disinformation too often came after the fact and when damage was already done.

"(Self-regulation) lacks credibility," it concluded, adding that the lack of transparency "arouses suspicion over the reality of the action by the platforms". The report proposed that each member state of the European Union set up its own regulatory authority to police social networks, rather than relying on regulation of them in the countries where they are based.

Facebook has its European headquarters in low-tax Ireland which under current rules would have responsibility for regulating it.

“Through the excesses that they enable, social networks create problems in other countries, (which are) difficult to see by the home country,” the report added.

Macron has been one of Europe's most vocal critics of light-touch regulation of Zuckerberg's empire which includes Facebook as well as the widely used Instagram and WhatsApp platforms.

Chris Hughes, a co-founder of the Facebook, wrote in an editorial published in The New York Times on Thursday that the company should be broken up.

“It's time to break up Facebook,” wrote Hughes, who along with Zuckerberg founded the online network in their dorm room while both were students at Harvard University in 2004.

Hughes said Zuckerberg's "focus on growth led him to sacrifice security and civility for clicks", and warned that his global influence had become “staggering".

Draft legislation in France to increase tax on digital giants was also likely to be on the agenda of Macron's meeting with Zuckerberg after lawmakers gave initial approval last month despite warnings from US officials that the move is “discriminatory”.

Turkey fines Facebook for failing to protect personal data

Turkey's state-run news agency says the country's data protection agency has fined Facebook 1.650 million Turkish lira ($270,000) for contravening data laws.

The Turkish Personal Data Protection Authority said on Friday the fine was imposed over a software bug that exposed millions of Facebook users' private photos to third-party app developers.

The authority ruled the social media company had not taken the required technical measures to protect the data and failed to notify authorities about the bug in a timely manner.

Facebook said in December that a software bug may have affected 6.8 million people who used Facebook to log into other services and granted permission for third-party apps to access photos for 12 days in September.

Opinion

Editorial

Climate realities
Updated 13 Jun, 2025

Climate realities

Finance Minister says, "We are living climate change day in and day out”.
Minimum wages
Updated 13 Jun, 2025

Minimum wages

Foolish to expect toothless and corrupt provincial employees’ social security organisations to force wealthy employers to implement the minimum wage.
Iran attack fears
13 Jun, 2025

Iran attack fears

AS the fate of the US-Iran talks remains undecided, there are worrying signs that in case the negotiations collapse,...
Lack of direction
Updated 12 Jun, 2025

Lack of direction

Few believe that a govt desperate to grow the economy can actually pull it off, as the dynamism required is not visible.
Taxing e-commerce
12 Jun, 2025

Taxing e-commerce

FOR the first time, the government has the digital economy in its crosshairs. With a slew of new measures proposed ...
Kashmir mediation
12 Jun, 2025

Kashmir mediation

ONE of the noteworthy outcomes of last month’s limited clashes between Pakistan and India is that the Kashmir ...