Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to his social media site on Friday to issue a statement about the site and PRISM — a secret NSA program that reportedly allows the government to spy on the American people.
Facebook, along with Google and several other popular internet sites were named in the leak as companies that participate in the program, which collects data like email, voice, and video chat from its partners.
It is alleged that everything on Facebook, including status updates, messages, and photos, are collected and stored by the NSA. But Zuckerberg denied the allegations, writing :
“Facebook is not and has never been part of any program to give the US or any other government direct access to our servers. We have never received a blanket request or court order from any government agency asking for information or metadata in bulk, like the one Verizon reportedly received. And if we did, we would fight it aggressively. We hadn’t even heard of PRISM before yesterday.”
He went on to add:
“When governments ask Facebook for data, we review each request carefully to make sure they always follow the correct processes and all applicable laws, and then only provide the information if is required by law. We will continue fighting aggressively to keep your information safe and secure.”
Mark Zuckerberg then pointed to a possible lack of transparency in the government as the possible cause for the “outrageous press reports” regarding PRISM. He added, “It’s the only way to protect everyone’s civil liberties and create the safe and free society we all want over the long term.”
Along with Mark Zuckerberg, the rest of the companies involved, including Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Paltalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, and Apple, have issued statements denying participation in any government program that collects private data about Americans.
But the denial was not enough for some, who commented on Zuckerberg’s status update with their suspicions that the Facebook CEO was not being entirely truthful. One user, Will Ware, wrote, “C’mon Zuck, you can be straight with us. Everyone already took the red pill anyway, right?”
Another user added, “But if you WERE providing data to the federal government you probably WOULDN’T be allowed to admit it, would you.”
Do you believe that Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook status about PRISM is truthful?
