kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
we will present next week a communication on how to tackle online disinformation calling for more transparency the promotion of diversity of information and credibility of information online.
all around the world democratic countries are now looking at gdpr for inspiration.
we must better and fully understand not only what happened to the data of eu citizens but what is going on with this date even now.
by having access to personal information it seems that it was possible for various actors to micro target citizens and help spread fake news and propaganda.
i look forward to hearing your views today and to continue working together on these important issues for our society.
the facebook cambridge analytica case shows that protection of personal data can have a major impact on our democracy and on our elections.
i underlined that i expect facebook to provide more detailed information and to cooperate fully with the irish and british data protection authorities.
we also have to speak seriously about the impact this scandal might have on our democratic societies.
we will also adopt a communication on artificial intelligence which among other actions aims at debating and developing ethical principles in this respect.
we adopted in february a recommendation on combating illegal content online.
the gdpr basically gives back control of personal data to the people.
of particular concern to me is the information to european citizens affected by the scandal.
and this was all done in the maze of digital reality with zero transparency and without any consent from the users.
also the gdpr reinforces the role of national protection authorities and gives them the possibility to impose quite dramatically high fines.
the algorithms used in the business model of facebook or other companies may have facilitated the spreading of fake news and untruthful posts and reinforced so called filter bubbles' and the antagonisation within this society.
i expect facebook to cooperate fully and at the highest level of the company.
i would like for all of us to act responsibly and not to jump the gun. our response should not only be about facebook.
and let's keep in mind that the gdpr is not in place yet so we are assessing the facebook scandal against the currently existing laws. there is an investigation led by the uk's data protection authority the information commissioner's office i am.
i would like to hear from them how they handle social media and online advertising in their campaign rules.
so i urged facebook to take all necessary steps to mitigate any potential negative consequences for users in the future.
and to be absolutely clear social media created unprecedented opportunities to engage in a political debate and communicate directly with millions of voters but they also created opportunities for some actors to manipulate and abuse social media.
we europeans have got this right.
now it is very important that we offer help to those almost three million citizens affected by the scandal.
will to cooperate closely with the european authorities on rebuilding trust after this scandal.
this can also be a strong enforcement tool in case of privacy violations.
if there is one positive thing coming out of this crisis it is the awareness about the importance of personal data protection that has been generated among ordinary citizens in europe and around the world.
traditional media are under very strict rules.
to conclude what is guiding our work in the commission is a strong notion that the internet is not a space free of the rule of law. the rules that apply offline also need to be fully respected in the online world and we need to make sure our modern data protection laws are thoroughly applied.
i would like to share with you some details about the different aspects.
second broader effects on our democratic processes elections included.
it is up to all of us to draw the right lessons from this facebook cambridge analytica scandal. there is work ongoing on three aspects of this scandal.
so let us combine our institutional forces to ensure that the momentum for searching for balanced but effective solutions is kept high on the political agenda in the european union and across the world.
considering the political and technical complexity of this file and the fact that it takes the form of a directly applicable regulation it is clear that adequate time is needed for a detailed analysis of all the implications keeping in mind the overall timeline for the adoption of the digital single market files.
the council supports its objective to ensure a high level of protection of privacy in electronic communication and we have been working intensively in order to ensure solid progress on the file.
based on these inputs the commission will reflect on this case in the coming communication on fake news and here i will have to disappoint everyone who thinks that we will come up with some kind of censorship.
this is not what the commission is planning.
we have the obligation to do everything possible to stop such practices which we see in this facebook cambridge analytica scandal.
i'm still quite alive.
i expect quite an interesting debate not only in the european union but also in the united states. if this case could be good for something it would be opening the eyes of americans as well who are more relaxed about their privacy than europeans.
we will deal with the issue of algorithms and communication focused on artificial intelligence also to be adopted in spring this year. and of course we will take this as a lesson for the continued negotiations on e privacy.
mr president trust is a must. it takes years to build but only seconds to lose.
sadly tech giants learned this lesson the hard way the latest example being the cambridge analytica scandal.
fortunately we europeans decided on the right laws to bring back trust.
where someone can spy on you anywhere at work at home on the streets?
where your political preferences can be matched to the highest bidder?
where you are a product being sold without your consent?
nine in ten europeans want none of this and that is exactly why we adopted the general data protection regulation to put citizens back in control of their own data;
to ensure a stronger enforcement and high fines for companies which do not comply;
to set data protection standards worldwide.
six years ago lobbyists and national governments tried to stop the proposal i had put on the table for a general data protection regulation and today they agree it is an indispensable piece of legislation the internet was designed for the people by the people and that is what it has to stay.
but you said something important about how we can look at our personal responsibility and one of the things i have been working on with public libraries is the role public libraries can have in helping our citizens know about how to protect their own personal data.
mr boni would you agree with me that public libraries can provide us with a tool a neutral public space where we can get people to understand about their privacy and about their data?
the social network might be based in the silicon valley but it is active worldwide and therefore it also has responsibilities all across the globe. i have said it before and will repeat it again mark zuckerberg has to come to the european parliament to answer our questions;
it's also the only place where you can share cat pictures with your grandmother;
nowhere else could you possibly do that so we stay there.
and despite the dramatic data leakages despite the ads despite all of that we keep spending and wasting our time scrolling down our timeline.
that also means that facebook has a huge responsibility and so far it has shied away from taking up this responsibility.
it has ignored even the most basic data protection rules and that must be over once and for all.
and it's our duty as european legislators to make sure that our citizens and their data is protected.
all of a sudden everybody understands that the digital revolution involves opportunities but also risks and sometimes threats of creating companies without corporate responsibility of creating jobs without proper social protection and now about taking on board our personal data and using these for the purpose of economic and political manipulation.
we need to regain control of our lives and europe must take the lead in this.
this is the right moment to invent our european way for the digital revolution and to regain digital sovereignty.
we know now there is an important regulation in the hands of the council on eprivacy and we urge the council to start a trilogue immediately because the urgency is clear.
we must demand more transparency about data breaches on the one hand but more generally about how personalised algorithms work and who is served which customised messages on whose behalf.
in a world where information flows are now so personalised that we no longer really have one shared reality we must make it understandable and investigate how information is spread and who is spreading it.
as we debate regulatory responses to the scandal here is my proposal let us regulate advertising targeting.
there is an arms race in the industry to collect ever more data to create ever more precise psychological profiles of users and to move ever closer to outright manipulation just to secure advertising revenues.
but one element while it has been mentioned did not dominate today's debate and i think it is absolutely crucial because the very fundamentals of our democracy might have been affected.
mr president as democrats we need to recognise the true seriousness of this situation.
our democracies are being stolen by companies who use psychological techniques designed for situations of military conflict to sow division in our societies and distort electoral outcomes to the benefit of the rich and powerful.
those who think that the naive arguments for freedom of speech are sufficient imagine the media landscape as a fairy tale world of hansel and gretel but the cambridge analytica scandal shows us that the forest is full of wolves.
for many online today the distinction between fake news and genuine news is increasingly blurred and this plays into the hands of those who wish to consolidate power.
as hannah arendt said the ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced nazi or the convinced communist but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist'.
the open democracy website has found links between the companies and the tories the british military the dup and even russian oligarchs.
this isn't the first time that the dup has played fast and loose with the law to pursue their dangerous pro brexit agenda.
there are many reasons why the brexit referendum was won or lost nothing to do with cambridge analytica was in any way material and we should not confuse sales talk from an old etonian with reality.
mr zuckerberg's approach to business has been well set out in the feature film the social network.
and behind all the blather and misleading pr speak about the facebook community' there is a gruesome reality.
it maintains its monopoly by a variety of predatory business practices and one simple illustration is that facebook buys up potential competitors.
this is what it did for example with instagram messenger and whatsapp.
users do not have complete control over their facebook data and this cannot be good.
it emerged in the washington hearings that facebook has what it describes as shadow profiles' on people who have not signed up to facebook and these profiles are without their consent.
such data does not get deleted when leaving because these people had never joined facebook in the first place. in its methods of collecting data facebook has become like a virus that you can never get rid of.
this is not only distasteful it is entirely shocking. the conclusion is clear. the problem is not cambridge analytica the problem is facebook.
as i said the fundamental problem is facebook itself the manner in which facebook operates its predatory business practices its lack of ethical principles and its monopoly.
users may agree to share their own data on the site but they did not agree to their friends sharing their details on their behalf.
facebook needs to vet its thirdparty apps much more carefully and we need to get to the bottom of what cambridge analytica were doing and what effect they actually had on election results. but the key for us is to learn from this the digital revolution has empowered billions around the world but it is embryonic and barriers are being tested by all in this uncertain datadriven new world.
the gdpr which comes into force next month is also testing barriers.
that alone brings about much more protection of personal data.
facebook itself has said it will apply it globally.
so let's find out what happened here first and see how well the gdpr worked in practice and then when we have a full picture assess if more legislation is needed.
these are very important questions to be urgently answered by facebook.
cambridge analytica and perhaps others are cooperating and using our data to work against our interests. this is very important so we should be very stringent.
we should keep analysing and doing everything we can to stop fake news and to stop leakage of our data for fake news to be empowered to change election results and to destroy our democracy.
an area like this is a perfect example of where european countries in the european union should work very closely together more so than concentrating on creating a european army.
areas like this and food sovereignty are exactly what we should be doing.
when it comes to accountability given the amount of customers and who is the customer here?
we're the product obviously we need mr zuckerberg to come before the relevant committees and to answer questions. there are many many positives to facebook. when i think of facebook i think of it as a tool for democracy. i wouldn't be here but for it. i wouldn't have gotten canvassers together but for it. my work here would not be covered in my country but for facebook because i and many others are ignored by our national broadcaster.
we need to focus on them but we need to solve this big problem too.
i would also like to emphasise the need to avoid any political instrumentalisation of such events and work together towards reconciliation.
i say to the turks and i say to the armenians our intent is constructive.
if we do not support the resolution that has been put before us in the vote that we take then i am afraid the world will know that this house does not stand by the principles it preaches to others.
whilst president erdogan may take the view that he is going to ignore what this house has to say for how long is he going to ignore all of those turkish people that are saying exactly what we have said in our resolution?
we want to help you both to move forward towards normalisation of relations.
impressive moment for all of us when we were laying flowers on the monument in yerevan.
we must encourage the turkish authorities to open all the archives providing historians academics and researchers the opportunity to shed light on these tragic events which indeed today we have reason to call genocide.
i think we have to do everything to encourage confidence building at all levels at the historian's level at the grass roots level and at the level of politicians so that turkey and armenia can come to terms with this tragic genocide that we are commemorating now. a large number of members of the european parliament were actually able to participate in a commemoration in yerevan a month ago and it was a deeply
the only means to prevent such tragedies from happening is to integrate them as our common historic heritage.
this centenary offers an opportunity for turkey to reach out to recognise the genocide and to seek dialogue with regard to reopening the international border as a gesture of goodwill.
let that claim be honoured today by joining the eleven eu member states and national parliaments that recognise the armenian genocide and offering closure on this dark episode of turkish history.
today we must commemorate that tragic event and think of the one and a half million innocent murdered victims.
irish colleagues in this chamber know how british rulers refused to feed the starving during that country's famine.
we will encourage reconciliation.
mr president our commemoration this year of one hundred years since the first world war brings us to remember the tragic events involving turkey and armenia.
i do not feel the need to equate these events with past sufferings of my fellow countrymen and women.
in malaysia the british deported half a million ethnic chinese.
in the past my country great britain has been responsible for events which caused suffering and which cause us pain.
indeed i am proud that leading figures of my own party took part in movements for liberation towards reconciliation to establish modern and equal relationships within our commonwealth.
in april we shall join the armenians in solemn commemoration and mourning for the lives lost recalling the horror of what happened in the final days of the ottoman empire.
last year's statement by the then prime minister mr erdogan was a welcome step and the commission encourages further meaningful steps paving the way towards full reconciliation.
they represent a dreadful atrocity afflicting the people of armenia which must never be forgotten.
the commission is glad to note that a debate has been taking place in turkey over the past ten years.
the commission continues to support the normalisation of armenian turkish relations and to encourage both sides to remain committed to the process of normalisation without preconditions through the implementation of the protocols they signed in.
what happened a hundred years ago continues to be felt in this century and to negatively affect armenian turkish relations.
we have committed eur two million to a project supporting reconciliation and to greater civil society cross communication. we also clearly expressed these messages of support during commissioner hahn's recent meetings held in mid march in yerevan with the armenian president
two thousand and nine it is essential that in this period of reconciliation partner countries are able to face their past through open and sincere debate.
the upcoming centennial commemorations in april this year will most probably create additional sensitivity but will also be another test case for the future of bilateral relations between armenia and turkey and a chance for advancing reconciliation. reconciliation is a core foundation of the european project and values.
it is important that such an opening is acknowledged encouraged and protected including through well calibrated messages from the european union.
as mentioned by the council the commission supports concrete activities aiming to promote confidence in people to people contacts.
regardless of the words we use to describe those awful events there can be no denial of their historical reality.
however i should not be the one telling you that this may be a very difficult goal to achieve.
the commission may have more details on this but i wish to recall that the eur two million project financed under the instrument for stability was launched in. two thousand and fourteen this project supports civil society efforts towards the normalisation of relations between armenia and turkey.
i would like to mention that the eu supports concrete activities targeting both countries aiming at promoting confidence and people to people contacts.
however i shall note that there is no common agreement as to the definition of the tragic events that took place one hundred years ago.
the ratification by both sides of the protocol on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the republic of armenia and the republic of turkey and the protocol on development of relations between the republic of armenia and the republic of turkey signed in zurich in two thousand and nine
we mourn for the lives lost and for the suffering endured by those men women and children.
the council is committed to continue supporting the normalisation of armenian turkish relations and encourages both sides to remain committed to the process of normalisation without preconditions.
but looking forward what is of immediate importance is to do all we can to promote the development of constructive relations between both sides.
it has significant impact on both countries' relations with their mutual neighbours thus positively affecting security stability and cooperation in the region.
there are different reasons for this. unfortunately these tragic events still strongly affect the relations between armenia and turkey.
should contribute to the normalisation of relations between the two countries including the establishment of diplomatic relations.
without any doubt it is important to have a common interpretation of the history.
in today's turkey there are twenty one journalists in jail and up to one hundred and fifty awaiting trial.
in today's turkey the opposition is liable to arrest.
that was a century ago but in today's turkey the government still refuses to apologise adequately and properly to the armenian people.
moreover those parties especially the british labour party and the british conservatives who are cheerleaders for turkey's candidacy should start to be honest instead of blathering the platitudes that we heard from two of their representatives earlier.
i am of the opinion that in a situation like this the one which was bigger and stronger back then and which is bigger and stronger today that is turkey should be leading the process.
this house and the foundations upon which we are built demand of us that we stand by those core principles to which i referred.
of course our two sister institutions may not be able to come and stand exactly with us but as long as we know that they support the position we are taking based upon our individual circumstances then we know as a union that we are in a strong position. i stand by every word of what i have said.
we will take your positions and suggestions with us for further reflection and sharing with relevant services.
states have diverging views as to whether these events can be formally qualified as genocide.
carlos coelho has done a good job to restore europe's reputation.
these new rules should improve surveillance of our sea borders and strengthen coordination within frontex.
that it was left to the european court of justice to shame member states into a more humanitarian approach to this challenge says little for our civilisation.
he has strengthened in this measure the rights of those who risk their lives to save themselves and has prohibited push backs at sea and the return of individuals to countries where they risk serious harm.
mr president we face a challenging number of irregular migrants crossing our southern seas in overloaded and unseaworthy boats.
they must be accompanied by robust policies for asylum and legal migration and as we enter an election campaign we must maintain a sense of perspective the thirty thousand arrivals last year compared to over three hundred thousand at ellis island a century ago.
it is a necessary improvement and it would not have been possible without the hard work of this house of mr coelho and all the shadow rapporteurs and the council. i hope that you will endorse it tomorrow and that the council will follow it through very quickly so that we can have these new rules entering into force very soon.
i think it is important to remember why we are here.
this was already set out in the two thousand and ten guidelines that the council adopted.
it will hopefully enable all european union countries to cooperate and it is a clear expression of solidarity and commitment to the values that we defend the right to ask for asylum the importance of ensuring correct application of the principle of non refoulement and making everything possible to avoid tragedies such as the ones we have seen lately in the mediterranean. on third countries it is true that it makes