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Thu, Mar

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Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has apologised to European Parliament lawmakers on Tuesday, for its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal and for allowing fake news to proliferate on its platform.

Several Members in the European Parliament (MEPs) asked the Facebook chief if he felt that the firm was a monopoly. He was also questioned about whether the company could be trusted to implement necessary changes.

Guy Verhofstadt MEP asked Mr Zuckerberg if he wanted to be remembered as "the genius who created a digital monster."

Mr Zuckerberg has been criticised for not taking enough care over how third-parties such as the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica accessed the information of Facebook users.

The social network also faces criticism for failure to tackle fake news.

Earlier in his opening remarks, Zuckerberg said it had “become clear over the last couple of years that we haven’t done enough to prevent the tools we’ve built from being used for harm as well.”

“Whether it’s fake news, foreign interference in elections or developers misusing people’s information, we didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibilities. That was a mistake, and I’m sorry.”

But questions remain over how Facebook let the leak happen and whether it is doing enough to prevent a recurrence.

Zuckerberg’s appearance in Brussels comes three days before tough new EU rules on data protection take effect. Companies will be subject to fines of up to 4 percent of global turnover for breaching them.

Zuckerberg stressed Facebook’s commitment to Europe, where it will employ 10,000 people by the end of the year, he said.

“I believe deeply in what we’re doing. And when we address these challenges, I know we’ll look back and view helping people connect and giving more people a voice as a positive force here in Europe and around the world,” he said.

Zuckerberg will go on to meet French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday but has so far declined to appear in front of British lawmakers.

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