During the EP plenary session (16- 19 April 2018) in Strasbourg, MEPs debate the abuse of Facebook data by Cambridge Analytica, in the light of European rules to protect personal data and online privacy, and discuss whether the European laws are an effective shield against personal data abuse and election manipulation. Statements by Monika PANAYOTOVA, Deputy Minister for the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU, Vĕra JOUROVÁ, Member of the EC in charge of Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Esteban GONZÁLEZ PONS (EPP, ES), Sophia IN'T VELD (ALDE, NL) and Ska KELLER (Greens/EFA, DE).

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

JOUROVÁ, Věra (EC)

GONZÁLEZ PONS, Esteban (EPP, ES)

KELLER, Ska (Greens/EFA, DE)

IN 'T VELD, Sophia (Renew, NL)

protection of personal data (T)

PANAYOTOVA, Monika (BG)

Cambridge Analytica and Facebook - Data protection and Citizen's privacy as a line of defence against election manipulation: extracts from the debate

SOUNDBITE (English), Monika PANAYOTOVA, Deputy Minister for the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU, Data protection rules don&rsquo;t provide the full answer against manipulating elections. Other measures going beyond data protection are also necessary for safeguarding the rule of law and democracy. New challenges to the rule of law and human rights such as increased level of disinformation have to be counterbalanced by increased levels of media literacy.

SOUNDBITE (English), V&#277;ra JOUROV&#193;, Member of the EC in charge of Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, I urge Facebook to take the necessary steps to mitigate any potential negative consequences for the users in the future.

SOUNDBITE (English), Vĕra JOUROV&Aacute;, Member of the EC in charge of Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Mr Zuckerberg should accept the invitation of the Parliament to appear in front of the responsible committees.

SOUNDBITE (English), Vĕra JOUROV&Aacute;, Member of the EC in charge of Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, What is guiding our work in the Commission is a strong notion that the Internet is not a space free of rule of law; The rules that apply offline also need to be fully respected in the online world. And we need to be sure that our modern data protection rules are thoroughly applied.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Esteban GONZ&#193;LEZ PONS (EPP, ES), In the next European elections, liars will try that there will be an anti-European majority in this Chamber, we can still avoid it: by protecting professional journalists and approving a European legislation that will establish the limits to liars. Lies are as dangerous as national populism, and usually they work hand in hand. We cannot overlook this issue.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sophia IN&apos;T VELD (ALDE, NL), Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg the GDPR is now the best know European law ever, even in the US Congress (... slight applause) Yes, thank you mark, this one is for you! And I think that Mr Zuckerberg would be well advised to appear before this House. Out of respects of hundreds of millions of European Facebook users who feel deceived. There are actually more users here than in the US.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sophia IN'T VELD (ALDE, NL), European citizens are left in the cold, unprotected, yes, the Facebook case is a wake-up call for all of us. Mr Zuckerberg, privacy is not dead, is alive and kicking.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ska KELLER (Greens/EFA, DE), Despite the dramatic data leakages, despite the adds, despite all of that we keep spending and wasting our time scrolling down our timeline. Facebook has become for many in Europe a necessity rather than a nice option, and that also means that Facebook has a huge responsibility and so far it has shade away from taking this responsibility, it has ignored even the most basic data protection rules. And that must be over once and for all. It&rsquo;s our duty as European legislators to make sure that our citizen&rsquo;s data is protected, it&rsquo;s our duty they have put their trust in us and we need to comply with that.

Illustrative shots on Facebook users (8 shots)