Facebook CEO hearing fails to win European plaudits

Bloomberg

The early critique of Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg’s efforts to restore trust with US lawmakers was mostly positive, with shares bouncing back. Europeans waking up to reports from the five-hour congressional hearing are not as convinced.
Senators cross-examined Zuckerberg over the leak of data on 87 million people and signalled they may move to rein in the social media giant.
German Justice Minister Katarina Barley was critical of the CEO. She took to Twitter citing Zuckerberg’s pledge that he would accept responsibility for his company’s failures, saying that “apparently this hasn’t been that important until now.”
“Facebook must finally protect the privacy of millions of people,” she said. “It’s good that we have stringent rules in the European Union. Whoever breaks those will feel the consequences.” Barley had met with Facebook officials in March in Berlin but came out of the meeting dissatisfied with the company’s response, indicating that Germany wants tighter regulation of social networks in the future — something senators repeatedly threatened during the hearing.
In the UK, one former lawmaker was critical — but of the lines of questioning undertaken by some members of Congress, not the 33-year-old CEO.
“Watching some of the US Senate question Mark Zuckerberg was painful,” former Conservative lawmaker Nick de Bois said in a Twitter post. “Some senators were hopelessly out of their depth.”
There were some positive sentiments. Speaking on French radio, Dominique Delport, Global Managing Director at advertising agency Havas, said Zuckerberg’s confirmation that Facebook will respect incoming data protection rules — known as GDPR — in Europe was immensely positive for the region.
He was also complimentary of the company’s transparency. “I really think they’re sincere in learning that things aren’t as simple as ‘move fast, break things,’” Delport said.
Facebook officials were expected to meet with senior UK lawmakers, including Culture Secretary Matt Hancock. The politician is unlikely to go easy on the company. “I expect Facebook to explain why they put the data of over a million of our citizens at risk,” he said on April 4. “This is completely unacceptable, and they must demonstrate this won’t happen again.”
The EU isn’t planning on letting the CEO off lightly either now he’s personally appeared before Congress. A call between Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and European Union Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova will take place on Thursday, Jourova said. She will also push for the 33-year-old to make a personal appearance in Europe. “I think it’s a proper thing to ask Mr. Zuckerberg to Europe and the European Parliament and ask the European kinds of questions,” the commissioner said in Brussels.