Advertisers thumb their noses as Facebook boycott begins

Leading brands pull their advertising from Facebook as a UK minister warned the company could face fines of more $1.8bn.

Mark Zuckerberg has failed to quell outrage over the hijacking of personal data from millions of people. Picture: AFP

Leading brands pulled their advertising from Facebook yesterday as a British minister warned that the company could face fines of more than £1 billion ($1.8bn) if it failed to “play by the rules” with users’ data.

Mozilla, maker of the Firefox web browser, became the first ­organisation to suspend advertising on the social network following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, saying that the company’s policies “leave billions of its users vulnerable without knowing it”.

Commerzbank, Germany’s second-largest bank, said it was also halting adverts over “data ­security” fears.

After British advertisers threatened on Thursday to join a boycott, M&C Saatchi chief executive David Kershaw said clients now believed that “enough was enough” and he likened the situation to the YouTube crisis last year when more than 250 brands abandoned the site because ­adverts were appearing alongside terrorist videos.

Facebook is under pressure after it emerged this week that the data of 50 million users had been obtained by Aleksandr Kogan, a Cambridge University researcher, and sold without their knowledge to Cambridge Analytica, a company that specialises in “micro-targeting” political adverts that play on recipients’ fears.

Yesterday Damian Collins, chairman of the House of Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee, recalled Cambridge Analytica chief executive Alexander Nix to appear before MPs to explain inconsistencies in his previous testimony.

“Giving false statements to a ­select committee is a very serious matter,” he said.

Culture Secretary Matt Hancock said new powers in Britain’s data protection bill meant the information commissioner could fine up to 4 per cent of global turnover if social media platforms don’t play by the rules.

“This means Facebook, if it breaks the rules, could face fines of up to £1.1bn from May. After this week’s revelations it’s time that ­social media platforms come clean with what data they really hold on people,” Mr Hancock said.

Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg broke his silence on Thursday to say that the company would investigate whether other user data had been misused up to 2014, when its terms allowed ­developers to access the data not only of people using their apps, but also of their friends. He said the company would also introduce further restrictions on developers’ access to data.

Mozilla chief business and legal officer Denelle Dixon said: “We are encouraged that Mr Zuckerberg has promised to improve the privacy settings and make them more protective. When Facebook takes stronger action in how it shares customer data, specifically strengthening its default privacy settings for third-party apps, we’ll consider returning.”

The apology by Mr Zuckerberg failed to quell outrage.

“Frankly I don’t think those changes go far enough,” Mr Hancock told the BBC.

“It shouldn’t be for a company to decide what is the appropriate balance between privacy and ­innovation and use of data. The big tech companies need to abide by the law and we are strengthening the law.”

In Brussels, European leaders were sending the same message as they prepared to push for tougher safeguards on personal data online, while Israel became the latest country to launch an investigation into Facebook.

On Thursday, ISBA, a British group of advertisers that spend hundreds of millions of pounds a year on Facebook, called for the platform to provide a “full ­account” of its data-sharing safeguards or risk an advertiser boycott. “I don’t think they’re bluffing. They are going to exert real pressure,” Mr Kershaw said,

The government indicated that it would consult ISBA and would consider withdrawing its own ­adverts from Facebook.

In Washington, leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee urged Mr Zuckerberg to testify without delay, saying a briefing a day earlier by Facebook officials had left “many questions” unanswered. The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Facebook over the scandal.

World wide web inventor Tim Berners-Lee described it as a “serious moment for the web’s future”.

“I can imagine Mark Zuckerberg is devastated that his creation has been abused and misused,” tweeted the British scientist.

The Times, AFP