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Facebook's Zuckerberg will not appear before British MPs

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Facebook's Zuckerberg will not appear before British MPs

#21

Post by techer »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #5
gianmaro wrote: post #4

It feels like Zuck is in panic and listening too much to his PR advisors who are likely telling him to stay out of the public until the storm settles. Not a smart move on this particular case

To be fair being called in front of MP's is like a ritualised grilling, nothing ever comes out of it other than total humiliation for the victim.

Rupert Murdoch somehow managed to survive. They aren’t as savage in person as they appear to be. Indeed, who knows what info Facebook/whatsapp they have on the MPs and their families! What a mess.

Re: Facebook's Zuckerberg will not appear before British MPs

#22

Post by rndmio »

As someone from the UK I am not at all surprised, there is no upside to him doing so. There is nothing he can say that will help, the committee will absolutely rip into him as their primary audience is the press and people of the UK, they don't really care about his answers to their questions. The problem is that the story isn't about FB making mistakes, or being hacked, or doing something they said they wouldn't. It's that people are working out what it is they've agreed to to use the service, and there is no spinning that.

Re: Facebook's Zuckerberg will not appear before British MPs

#23

Post by iwannasay »

No matter how much of a mistake Facebook make with their PR, they're gonna get away with it.

Primarily because a majority of the public can't sustain their interest in the subject beyond their day-to-day concerns in life.

I mean the whole argument here is that stolen user data from Facebook led a marketing agency to enable a political party with a certain agenda to deceive the public and win a democratic vote. Gathering so much power is a big victory in the first place, that is not so easy to ignore / forget / undo very easily, especially when most people continue to use Facebook products the way they did because the news slowly becomes old and people forget and move on.

This subject is bigger than Facebook, it reveals shortcomings of a democratic vote and how power in the capitalist system can render a democracy to be an illusion. Facebook's victory is to have accumulated so much power in the first place. Power aka most personal user data any institute has ever gathered. Never mind they used shady sly tactics to take permissions in the first place.

Re: Facebook's Zuckerberg will not appear before British MPs

#24

Post by mtreis86 »

martinald wrote: post #14
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> FB took out a personally-signed-by-Zuckerberg letter in 6 UK sunday papers last weekend Were they identically worded?

Yes, but it wasn't signed by the CPO, the board, or anyone, they were all signed by Zuckerberg so I think it looks especially fake to take out those ads (which are especially targeted at the 'political class' IMO) and then refuse to come before MPs. Source: https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/180325071038-01-faceb...

That letter is pure narcissism. Blame someone else, promise to change, play the victim.

Re: Facebook's Zuckerberg will not appear before British MPs

#25

Post by Milner08 »

mrleiter wrote: post #18

Saying this is a strategic mistake may be a bit too early to tell. It depends on whether this issue will slowly disappear in the media and minds of people (like most things). He has no legal obligation to appear if I understand correctly. The select committee mainly consists of MPs who objected Brexit. Of course they try to make their point that the vote was skewed or manipulated. If, on the other hand, the pressure…

What on earth does their stance on Brexit have to do with there position in the select committee?!

Re: Facebook's Zuckerberg will not appear before British MPs

#26

Post by notafxn »

I hope this hate on FB ends already, I'm tired of seeing the home page of HN polluted by it.

We all knew what was going on on FB, so acting surprised is silly. And we all know this won't change nothing because most people don't care and will happily keep using FB. And we also know even if people stop using FB they will keep using WA/IG. So what's the point? Is this only a problem now that Trump took advantage of it?

Re: Facebook's Zuckerberg will not appear before British MPs

#27

Post by OrganicMSG »

I wonder if this will affect their tax arrangements, as they have been treated rather nicely up till now.

In 2014, Facebook paid £4,327 in tax to the UK. The next year, they paid £4.16 million, which seems to be an improvement but then in the same year they were given an £11 million tax credit, so not so much.

Re: Facebook's Zuckerberg will not appear before British MPs

#28

Post by hanoz »

This was obviously never going to happen and is absolutely the right decision for Zuckerberg and Facebook. House of Commons select committees bagging a big scalp invariably turn into show trials, with MPs possessing a completely deluded sense of their own insight into a subject queuing up to play to the cameras. The spectacle of having Zuckerberg there would have been absolutely excruciating.

So, much as I'd like to see Facebook deleted from the internet, at least we'll be spared the embarrassment of the world witnessing the caliber of our elected representatives.

Re: Facebook's Zuckerberg will not appear before British MPs

#29

Post by cmorgan31 »

notafxn wrote: post #26

I hope this hate on FB ends already, I'm tired of seeing the home page of HN polluted by it. We all knew what was going on on FB, so acting surprised is silly. And we all know this won't change nothing because most people don't care and will happily keep using FB. And we also know even if people stop using FB they will keep using WA/IG. So what's the point? Is this only a problem now that Trump took advantage of it?

Well GDPR is going to have teeth soon and Facebook is a prime case to test its boundaries and prove those base fines will be enforced. It's important to see the outcome and sentiment of the EU and UK in regards to Facebook from a legal standpoint as it helps inform smaller companies of where the proverbial line in the sand is drawn. I think it is likely in their best interest to keep Facebook in the news so as to improve the optics when the inevitable GDPR violations trickle into the Data Protection Agencies of the EU.

Re: Facebook's Zuckerberg will not appear before British MPs

#30

Post by AJRF »

notafxn wrote: post #26

I hope this hate on FB ends already, I'm tired of seeing the home page of HN polluted by it. We all knew what was going on on FB, so acting surprised is silly. And we all know this won't change nothing because most people don't care and will happily keep using FB. And we also know even if people stop using FB they will keep using WA/IG. So what's the point? Is this only a problem now that Trump took advantage of it?

Who is acting surprised?

Why do you think it is inevitable that people would use WhatsApp or Instagram if they decide to leave Facebook? Is that really as obvious as you are making it out to be? Is there any evidence of that?

The point is that finally, FINALLY the mainstream is paying attention to the potential ramifications of having a consolidated identity on social media, and how they potentially could have their perception of reality distorted by using such services. Now is the time to embrace changes if they come, not to get complacent at the news cycle based on ones own personal cognitive biases.

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