Facebook is said to be deliberately polarizing in order to generate more advertising revenue through more clicks.
(Photo: Reuters)
Berlin After the revelations about Facebook’s business practices, the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection, Ulrich Kelber, asked the federal government and the highest federal authorities to shut down their Facebook fan pages. “The latest incidents show that there are obviously a few other problem areas in addition to data protection that speak in favor of switching off the fan pages as soon as possible,” Kelber told Handelsblatt.
A former Facebook employee had testified in the US Congress that Facebook deliberately polarized in order to achieve more advertising income through more clicks. The whistleblower had previously passed on the Group’s internal documents to authorities and the media.
Several MPs announced legal action against Facebook during the hearing. CEO Mark Zuckerberg rejected the criticism of the business model of his online platform.
Kelber currently sees no possibility for the federal authorities to operate Facebook fan pages in accordance with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in a data protection-compliant manner. “After all attempts to persuade Facebook to adapt its services failed, we announced to the federal authorities that we would examine their use of Facebook fan pages from January 1, 2022 and, if necessary, take supervisory measures such as instructions and prohibitions”, he said.
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Kelber had already made a circular to all federal ministries and the highest federal authorities in May calling for the Facebook fan pages to be closed. The Federal Government’s Press and Information Office then spoke to Facebook about the authority’s data protection concerns.
Kelber then stated that Facebook had unfortunately only sent the publicly known “Addendum” from October 2019 to the press office. This agreement stipulates that the site operator and Facebook share the responsibility of the fan site. All relevant obligations for the requested data protection are therefore with Facebook.
Federal Minister of Justice and EU Commissioner for Effective Regulation
However, Kelber considers the “addendum” to be insufficient to meet the data protection regulations. “From my point of view, this shows that Facebook is not prepared to make any changes to its data processing,” Kelber said in his newsletter at the time. The departments and their business areas that operate fan pages could not fulfill their accountability according to the GDPR. He therefore recommends all authorities that operate a fan page to shut it down by the end of this year.
If the Facebook pages were switched off, the federal government could lose a considerable amount of its reach. The central page of the federal government has almost 890,000 fans and over a million subscribers on Facebook.
Facebook is also threatened with stricter regulation in Europe because of the new allegations. Appeals to a sense of responsibility and self-regulation are not enough, said Federal Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) the editorial network Germany. In case of doubt, profit interests would be given priority over social responsibility. It is therefore important to put the reins on Facebook and Co. and tighten them tightly, says Lambrecht.
EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton also sees a significant need for regulation. The European Parliament and the Council of the 27 Member States are currently discussing relevant draft laws. Breton stressed that the templates should not be watered down.
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