Calls for the United Kingdom to regulate Facebook is reaching a crescendo following a scathing report that blasted the social media firm for its relentless privacy failings and condemned it and its executives for behaving like "digital gangsters."
The final 110-page report of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee concludes Facebook intentionally broke privacy and competition law, and must urgently be subject to statutory regulation. The 18 month-long investigations into disinformation and fake news also accused Facebook of deliberately obstructing its inquiry, and failing to defeat attempts by Russia to manipulate elections such as those in the United States in 2016 and 2018.
"Democracy is at risk from the malicious and relentless targeting of citizens with disinformation and personalized 'dark adverts' from unidentifiable sources, delivered through the major social media platforms we use every day," said committee chairman, Damian Collins.
Apart from the urgent regulation of Facebook, the report urged the creation of an independent UK body charged with eliminating harmful or illegal content. The report vilified Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for thrice refusing to give evidence to the committee. In November 2018, Zuckerberg sent a junior executive to testify in his place, a decision the committee took as an affront.
The report noted that by not choosing to appear before the committee and by choosing not to respond personally to any of the committee's invitations, "Zuckerberg has shown contempt towards both our Committee and the 'International Grand Committee' involving members from nine legislators from around the world."
A fierce critic of Zuckerberg, Collins said the Facebook boss doesn't believe he is accountable to the UK Parliament. Collins, however, pointed out Zuckerberg is responsible to the billions of Facebook users across the world.
"Evidence uncovered by my Committee shows he still has questions to answer yet he's continued to duck them, refusing to respond to our invitations directly or sending representatives who don't have the right information.
"Mark Zuckerberg continually fails to show the levels of leadership and personal responsibility that should be expected from someone who sits at the top of one of the world's biggest companies."
The report also warns British electoral law is vulnerable to interference by hostile foreign actors, including agents of the Russian government attempting to discredit democracy.
It further calls on the British government to establish an independent investigation into "foreign influence, disinformation, funding, voter manipulation and the sharing of data" in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, the 2016 EU referendum, and the 2017 general election.
