Germany’s defense minister has called on all government agencies to remove their Facebook pages by the end of the year, saying the media giant is not following German and European privacy laws.
Commissioner Ulrich Kelber told German officials in a recent letter that almost two years of Facebook negotiations had failed to progress, and that the pages of organizations on the platform had not met the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The move comes as a result of pressure from European regulators on Big Tech to escalate. Last week, German anti-corruption watchdogs launched an investigation into Apple, having conducted similar searches on Facebook, Google and Amazon.
Earlier this month, the European Court of Justice ruled that secrecy authorities in each EU country could force the GDPR against the company in private.
Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kelber said he has also started monitoring TV programs such as Instagram, Facebook, and the TikTok video program, and the Clubhouse listening platform. He also advised the authorities to remove the accounts on this page, due to the same privacy issues.
EU law stipulates that personal information may be subject to strict privacy laws, and the US cannot be held liable for compliance with such laws. At the moment it is not possible for Facebook fan followers not to be sent to the US, Kelber said.
In October 2019 Facebook provided an addendum describing the visibility of the items and reviews, but Kelber said they did not comply with German and government safety guidelines. The US company has not provided any further warranty.
“In my opinion, this shows that Facebook is not ready to change anything in its data transformation,” he said. “From January 2022, I want – in the interest of the citizens concerned – to gradually implement the measures that have helped me under Article 58 of the GDPR.”
Officials say such sites are important in reaching out to people at a time when fewer people are turning to the media for information and turning to television. Kelber said he initially refused to ask to be removed from the site on the issue, but said this was based on ongoing discussions. He did not believe that the negotiations “had any hope of success”.
Steffen Seibert, a spokeswoman for Angela Merkel’s government, told a news conference Wednesday that the commissioner’s attempt was being carried out, but declined to comment.
Government agencies had a “role model” on the issue of secrecy, Seibert added. “That’s why I see you have a responsibility to live up to the data protection laws.”
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