Mark Zuckerberg
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- Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00
- Written by editor
Facebook's data breach is bigger than we thought. The social media giant is on trial for undermining democratic processes around the world.
It’s time for Mark Zuckerberg to step down as CEO.
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In a few weeks, Mark Zuckerberg will have to sit before the U.S. Congress and justify to the world how 50 million Facebook users' data got in the hands of a third party app that has helped undermine democratic processes across the world--from the United States to the UK.
Once news of the massive Facebook data breach broke, it took Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg five whole days to issue an apology after... stock prices started taking a hit. Zuckerberg has continuously refused to take responsibility for some of the company's worst offenses. If his actions didn't make it clear enough already, profits from Facebook's surveillance-based business model are Zuckerberg's main priority far above the protection of user data and privacy.
It's time for new leadership at Facebook to ensure that the millions of people who want to use this service to stay connected with friends and family can do so with the knowledge that their personal information is not being shared and exploited to line Facebook's pockets.
Call on Mark Zuckerberg to step down as CEO of Facebook now.
Late last month, Facebook announced that it suspended the third party app called Strategic Communications Laboratories and its political data analytics firm, Cambridge Analytics. Both ran data operations for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential election campaign, and have been widely credited for helping Trump more effectively target voters on Facebook. Which is a pretty big deal since 45% of Facebook users in the U.S. consume news on the site.
This is not the first time Facebook has passed along user data to unsavory hands. Two years ago the company shut down Korryn Gaines' livestream of her fatal police encounter at the request of Baltimore police. Over the past few years, Facebook has been in the spotlight for state-sponsored censorship, the proliferation of fake news, contradictory hate speech policies and unethical data collection practices.
There are no checks in place at Facebook to hold Zuckerberg accountable for putting users at risk. We have an opportunity to change that. In the past few weeks, Facebook has lost an estimate of almost $100 billion in market value. Zuckerberg is feeling the heat, finally issuing a public apology but refusing to testify for UK lawmakers. If the pressure continues, Facebook will be forced to hold him to account and change its governance structure.
Enough is enough: Please sign now to tell Zuckerberg to step down as CEO of Facebook.
Not only is Mark Zuckerberg the CEO of Facebook but he is also the chair of the board of directors, meaning that he is accountable to himself only. The governance structure of Facebook gives very little power to shareholders and concentrates the power in one place: Mark Zuckerberg himself.
Last year we filed a shareholder resolution to create a boss for Zuckerberg-- an independent Chair of the Board of Directors. Because we knew this lack of accountability was a recipe for disaster and more scandals to come. But Zuckerberg controls 60% of the shareholder voting power while owning only a minority of the shares. So even though our proposal earned the support of almost half of the shareholders not controlled by Zuckerberg, we knew it would be a tough fight.
SumOfUs isn't afraid to take on Facebook. Last year, 140,000 members like you called out Facebook on its censorship practices after several reports surfaced of activists being silenced around the world. We know that when we work together, we have the power to change Facebook to make it a secure and better online space for all.
Thanks for all that you do,
Reem, Lisa, Amelia, Maggie and the team at SumOfUs
More information:
Facebook Data Backlash Reveals Tech’s Biggest Challenge: Trust, Vanity Fair, 27 March 2018
Cambridge Analytica and Facebook: The scandal so far, Al Jazeera, 28 March 2018
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