Sign in / up

back to article We need to talk, Brit Parliamentary committee tells Mark Zuckerberg

The Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee has demanded Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg “appear before us to give oral evidence” in the fallout over Cambridge Analytica – while an ex-Facebooker is due to spill the beans tomorrow. After the DCMS committee chairman Conservative MP Damian Collins announced on …

COMMENTS

Post your comment
House rules Send corrections
Add to 'My topics' unstar *

Page:

  1. Dave 126 Silver badge

    Background:

    The journalist who has been working on this story for a couple of years, Carole Cadwalladr of the Observer, being interviewed by Phillip Adams today. Covers the origins of CA from a private Psy-Ops firm called SEC, through Bannon and Facebook, to today's events.

    http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/latenightlive/the-cambiridge-analytica-files/9567134

    15 0 Reply
    1. Dave 126 Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Background:

      The above has an MP3 link.

      1 0 Reply
  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    About time

    About time every one of us wrote to our MPs to invoke the contempt of parliament statute as applied to non-MPs. It has not been invoked for centuries and it being invoked on Zuk would be a reason for a major celebration.

    5 8 Reply
    1. Captain Hogwash
      Reply Icon

      Re: About time

      From the article:

      "There’s just one small snag. Zuck is an American citizen, meaning he can safely ignore any such summons. If a British or Commonwealth citizen, or someone living in the UK, did that, they would risk being jailed for committing contempt of Parliament."

      19 0 Reply
      1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: About time

        Can't we send a gunboat?

        9 1 Reply

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

        2. Dave 126 Silver badge
          Reply Icon

          Re: About time

          We can't jail him for contempt but we could possibly hurt his business operations in the UK - though I don't know how that works legally.

          I'm amazed that our Government still allows Google to place rip-off websites above official .gov.uk sites when people search for European Health Cards and Driving Licence Renewals etc.

          14 0 Reply
          1. Teiwaz
            Reply Icon

            Re: About time

            I'm amazed that our Government still allows Google to place rip-off websites above official .gov.uk sites when people search for European Health Cards and Driving Licence Renewals etc.

            a) They [our Government] are useless at IT.

            b) Said rip-off website has as much chance of delivering what you are looking for as official site as they often don't work right.

            2 2 Reply
            1. Dave 126 Silver badge
              Reply Icon

              Re: About time

              > b) Said rip-off website has as much chance of delivering what you are looking for as official site as they often don't work right.

              All they do is take 30 quid from you and enter the details you provide them into the official .gov website.

              2 0 Reply
        3. wolfetone Silver badge
          Reply Icon

          Re: About time

          "Can't we send a gunboat?"

          I'm sure the spooks at MI6 could borrow some stuff from Porton Down and slip it in to his coffee.

          Or see if he could fit himself in to a sports bag and close it up on himself.

          8 2 Reply
        4. BebopWeBop
          Reply Icon

          Re: About time

          Can't we send a gunboat?

          We might if we had an operational one.

          9 0 Reply
        5. Cynic_999
          Reply Icon

          Re: About time

          "

          Can't we send a gunboat?

          "

          Well, we could probably send a boat. The guns are on back-order.

          7 0 Reply
      2. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: About time

        If a British or Commonwealth citizen, or someone living in the UK, did that, they would risk being jailed for committing contempt of Parliament."

        Start jailing the local UK directors until Zuk shows up.

        22 3 Reply
        1. Dan 55 Silver badge
          Reply Icon

          Re: About time

          Start jailing the local UK directors until Zuk shows up.

          Or do something he cares about, like a huge fine which will sort out the national debt once and for all. Although I guess last year Facebook officially had profits of thruppence ha'penny in the UK.

          4 0 Reply
          1. Dave 126 Silver badge
            Reply Icon

            Re: About time

            > Or do something he cares about, like a huge fine

            Get there before the US gov does then - an amused Eddie Mair on Radio 4 noted that the US fine could be up to $40,000... per user who had data misused. That adds up to a coupla Trillion dollars.

            7 0 Reply
          2. LucreLout
            Reply Icon

            Re: About time

            Or do something he cares about, like a huge fine which will sort out the national debt once and for all

            Much as I like your thinking, Farcebook simply isn't big enough. Its market capitalisation is just under £500 Bn. The national debt is 4 or more times that, depending on how you count it.

            5 0 Reply
        2. Anonymous Coward
          Reply Icon
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: About time

          Start jailing the local UK directors until Zuk shows up.

          I don't think he'd really care. He'd just have their status set to "it's complicated".

          6 0 Reply
        3. robidy
          Reply Icon

          Re: About time

          Not sure how that would incentevise him to rock up.

          Perhaps a tax on UK turnover...with an annual escalator until he rocks up.

          First year payable in advance from 3rd April 2018 if he's not attended by then.

          2 0 Reply
      3. iron Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: About time @Captain Hogwash

        So we find him in contempt and if he ever visits the UK we arrest him as he steps off the plane, preferably in full view of the press. Just like the Yanks do to British security researchers when they visit the US.

        22 0 Reply
      4. Doctor Syntax Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: About time

        "Zuck is an American citizen, meaning he can safely ignore any such summons. If a British or Commonwealth citizen, or someone living in the UK, did that, they would risk being jailed for committing contempt of Parliament."

        Why not just prosecute him for non-attendance. After all, the US believes its laws apply everywhere so why shouldn't we do the same?

        16 0 Reply
      5. Slx
        Reply Icon

        Re: About time

        There's no such thing as a 'Commonwealth Citizen' the organisation has no legal powers at all. It's neither a trade organisation nor a political union. It's just a symbolic organisation for former British colonies and nothing more.

        A UK resident (citizen of the UK or not) or, possibly someone resident elsewhere in the EU (until Brexit), if the UK could execute an EU arrest warrant would be under pressure, otherwise standard international rules of extradition would apply.

        1 0 Reply
    2. Laura Kerr
      Reply Icon

      Re: About time

      "it being invoked on Zuk would be a reason for a major celebration."

      I can't stand the smug little git, but there's one wee problem - we can't sling him in chokey unless we get him over here in the first place. We're a bit short of gunboats these days, so unless he comes voluntarily there's not much HMG can do, other than block Facebook in the UK, which would be political suicide, or declare him persona non grata, which isn't going to worry him that much. He'll probably throw his UK minions to the wolves, though.

      10 1 Reply
      1. smudge
        Reply Icon

        Re: About time

        We're a bit short of gunboats these days, so unless he comes voluntarily there's not much HMG can do...

        "My dearest Donald,

        You know this Assange fella that many of your chappies would like to have a chinwag with? If you could, ah, see your way to persuading Zuk to pay us a visit, I'm pretty confident that we could deliver Assange to you with no more than minor transit damage. Might have to drop a sweetener to the Ecuadorians - so perhaps you could see your way to taking more of their bananas and shrimps? I'm sure that Melania (give her my love!) will know some good recipes for them.

        Regards to your boss - tell him to ignore everything I've been saying in public. Got to keep up appearances - you'll know that!

        Toodle-oo,

        Boris"

        30 3 Reply
      2. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: About time

        "we can't sling him in chokey unless we get him over here in the first place"

        I'm sure we could persuade Mr Trump to do an exchange for St Julian

        We have the Ecuadorians on our side nowadays

        7 0 Reply
      3. Sgt_Oddball
        Reply Icon
        Holmes

        Re: About time

        How much more political suicide can they honestly do by this point? I am somewhat still astounded as to how none of have been rounded up before judges for how badly they've cocked up.

        2 0 Reply
  3. Forget It
    Facepalm

    Free goodies any one?

    Nice big wooden horse?

    Beware of geek bearing gifts.

    13 0 Reply
    1. m0rt
      Reply Icon

      So on the one hand "How dare you abuse your position and allow our Citizens' data to be used in this fashion!" to the other "How dare you refuse us unfettered access to our Citizens' data!"

      So guess what the free gift facebook is going to give the UK gov to make this go away?

      12 0 Reply

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

          1. BebopWeBop
            Reply Icon

            All would seem to fit and MPs have never demonstrated much consistency - outsize a commitment to brazen lying anyway.

            3 0 Reply
          2. Teiwaz
            Reply Icon

            I still am unsure as to why MP's are angry.

            ...5. I think it's 'cause there's now a chance more leaks will reveal how the UK has been using the company and the want to investigate the US side and bury them before anything about the UK operations comes out.

            11 0 Reply
          3. Mark 85
            Reply Icon

            I still am unsure as to why MP's are angry.

            Oh.... lots of reasons and you did a good list but there's one more...

            There's the implication and apparent evidence that Cambridge Analytics interfered big time in the US election. If they held data from FB's British users, there could be worries about your elections being tampered with from them. FB might not have a hand in election tampering but the data leak could certainly be shown, if used by a firm like CA, to sway an election.

            There might be a connection between all this and your elections.... for example Brexit.

            FTR, we should all be pissed about data theft, be it from FB, any business, and/or government. Yet, most people aren't unless it affects them personally, like the resulting bank fraud or screwing up their credit.

            2 0 Reply
        2. Anonymous Coward
          Reply Icon
          Anonymous Coward

          That's the quote of the year. What exactly's it from???

          0 0 Reply
    2. Teiwaz
      Reply Icon

      Free goodies any one?

      Nice big wooden horse?

      Beware of geek bearing gifts.

      So who is this Helen he stole then?

      If it's 'an Royal' he can keep 'em - just seem to fill the front pages with useless soap opera trivia - the archers'd be cheaper.

      1 0 Reply
  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Right Zuk, First Question!

    Any chance we can get the same data, y'know, for "Research Purposes" on err Pedos and Terrorists (TM)

    Yours lovingly

    T.May.

    8 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Right Zuk, First Question!

      We already have it :-) (anon for obvious reasons)

      4 0 Reply

  5. This post has been deleted by its author

  6. Daedalus

    Bring in the lawyers

    I think the esteemed parliamentarian will find himself dealing with the firm of Dewey, Cheetham & Howe rather than Mr Z.

    4 0 Reply
    1. LucreLout
      Reply Icon

      Re: Bring in the lawyers

      Indeed - the current odds of Zuk becoming the next President of those Untied States, is around 2.7% I'd expect the odds of his grinning face appearing in the Commons any time soon would be lower than that.

      The days when MPs could simply summon whomever they wished and expect obsequeous compliance are long gone. Most people have little to no respect for any MP, regardless of rosette colour, which is played for and got, in the sense that MPs ruined their own credibility and social standing.

      4 0 Reply
  7. Anonymous Coward
    Meh

    The first thing the pols will want to know is whether any of THEIR particular antics have been detected/are in danger of being found by the press.

    2 0 Reply
  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    #DeleteFacebook on Twitter, oh the irony.

    As always in cases like this it's time to follow the money. Did some of our politicians and businesses pay for their services over brexit? I'd be interested to know that one. However Facebook is working as intended. What did people think they were doing with all that data? only use it to try to sell them tat?

    14 0 Reply

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

    2. Dr Paul Taylor
      Reply Icon

      Did some of our politicians and businesses pay for their services over brexit?

      As I said, I urge you to read the rest of Carole Cadwalladr's coverage of this story.

      here

      3 0 Reply
    3. Paul Crawford Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Just block Facebook and prosecute anyone doing business with them in the UK.

      Sure, you wont get Zuck in jail, but the spooking of investors and the damage to the brand would be priceless...

      2 0 Reply
  9. SkippyBing

    Could someone explain

    If facegooglesoft have all this information on me that can be used to affect the way I vote, how come youtube is going through a phase of showing me an advert for 'The Prime Minister's Office of Japan' before every video? I mean it's quite interesting but I've got literally zero interest in purchasing any of their services.

    7 1 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Could someone explain

      " I mean it's quite interesting but I've got literally zero interest in purchasing any of their services."

      Yet.....but you will......one day, you will.....chip...chip....chip.

      9 0 Reply
    2. Teiwaz
      Reply Icon

      Re: Could someone explain

      'The Prime Minister's Office of Japan'

      Is that a new anime?

      4 0 Reply
  10. Russell Chapman Esq.

    Governments finally realizing they are not as in control as they thought they were

    With the likes of FB and Google having data on millions, if not billions of people, I think politicians are now realizing they are not as high and mighty as they once were. As these companies are international, they can collect data anywhere, but base operations for the use of that data where they like, out of the jurisdiction of national governments. FB and Google etc, are in fact now, supra-national bodies, you can be sure they won't be so careless about similar operations in the future. This situation is simply part of the learning phase for them. It might already be too late to stop them.

    6 0 Reply
  11. Gordon Pryra

    What about a swap

    Zuk for Love?

    0 6 Reply
  12. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    Given that this had lead to bad publicity on a such scale that even the Great British Public is starting to realise than FB might not be an unalloyed Good Thing it's possible that they might realise that Zuk not appearing is the sort of dickish move that they could do without.

    1 1 Reply

Page:

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

Forgotten password ?

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like