Mark Zuckerberg speaks out for the first time about Facebook scandal
After five days of silence, the CEO of the world's largest social network has pledged to take a series of measures to protect data and restore user trust.
“We have a responsibility to protect your data. And if we can’t, then we don’t deserve to serve you,” Zuckerberg said in a post on his personal page. “I’m working to understand exactly what happened and how to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Since last weekend, Facebook has been embroiled in a scandal when Cambridge Analytica - a company related to the election campaign of US President Donald Trump - was said to have accessed information about 50 million Facebook users without anyone knowing. Facebook later explained that this information was collected by a professor for research purposes, completely in accordance with the company's regulations.
However, it was then transferred to several third-party organizations, including Cambridge Analytica, which violated the social network's rules.
|
Mark Zuckerberg was criticized for his ability to handle the crisis in this scandal. Photo:AFP |
Facebook has been criticized for its responsibility in managing this information. The scandal broke out, causing the company to lose more than $60 billion in market capitalization in just the first two sessions of the week, and at the same time, a series of politicians on both sides of the Atlantic called for Zuckerberg to testify.
The world’s largest social network is also facing lawsuits from investors and users, as well as a wave of “Delete Facebook” movements around the world. Most recently, Brian Acton – co-founder of WhatsApp – a messaging app acquired by Facebook in 2014, also called for Facebook to be deleted.
In a post yesterday, Zuckerberg said Facebook would take a series of steps to further limit developers' access to user data, including automatically removing access to any app that a user hasn't opened in at least three months.
Facebook is also increasing its investment in an existing tool that helps users set permissions for apps to access their data. The tool will appear at the top of News Feed next month.
Zuckerberg said Facebook was “working with authorities” investigating the Cambridge Analytica scandal. “I started Facebook, and I’m responsible for what happens on it,” he said. “We’re going to learn from this and make it safer for people.”
Sheryl Sandberg – COO of Facebook also spoke out for the first time after the scandal broke out. She called this a “serious violation of human trust”.
