'You broke democracy': Zuckerberg fronts shareholders at Facebook AGM


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It was not a normal Facebook shareholder meeting.


On Thursday in Menlo Park, California, one investor compared the social network’s poor stewardship of user data to a human rights violation. Another warned that scandal is not good for Facebook’s bottom line. And one advised Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg to emulate George Washington, not Vladimir Putin, and avoid turning Facebook into a “corporate dictatorship”.


A lot has happened since last year when we were here, Mark Zuckerberg told shareholders in his opening remarks.

“A lot has happened since last year when we were here,” Mark Zuckerberg told shareholders in his opening remarks.


Photo: Bloomberg

Facebook struggled to keep order, kicking one woman out of the meeting within the first few minutes for repeated interruptions. A plane zipped overhead pulling a banner that read “YOU BROKE DEMOCRACY” and advertising Freedom From Facebook, a group of privacy and anti-monopoly activists that are pressing the US Federal Trade Commission to break up the company.


“A lot has happened since last year when we were here,” Zuckerberg said to open his remarks. It was an understatement, intended to break the ice. One shareholder, Trillium Asset Management, came with a list of 15 distinct controversies, including Russian interference in the USpresidential election, the spread of misinformation and concerns over data privacy.


Other investors brought up different issues — from Facebook’s tax planning to a reluctance to release reports on pay by gender.

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