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A24 HEALTH
Tuesday 18 February 2020

Zuckerberg meets EU officials MIT: Hackers could

as bloc's new tech rules loom alter ballots in widely

By KELVIN CHAN used voting app
Associated Press
LONDON (AP) — Facebook CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) ed the research methods,
CEO Mark Zuckerberg met — An internet voting app issuing a statement that
top European Union offi- that has been used in pi- said the analysts used an
cials on a visit to Brussels on lots in West Virginia, Den- old version of the app and
Monday, days before the ver, Oregon and Utah has accused them of acting in
bloc is expected to release vulnerabilities that could "bad faith." The company
new proposals on regulat- allow hackers to change noted it hasn't had any re-
ing artificial intelligence. a person's vote without ported issues in its counting
The billionaire social net- detection, according to of less than 600 votes over
work founder is the lat- researchers at the Massa- nine pilot elections.
est U.S. tech executive to chusetts Institute of Tech- Although few voters are ex-
make the trip to the head- nology. pected to cast ballots on
quarters of the EU, which is Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, center, is greeted by Euro- The analysis of the Voatz such apps in the coming
pean Commissioner for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova,
becoming an increasingly left, prior to a meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels, Monday, app, which has mostly election, the report casts a
important player in tech- Feb. 17, 2020. been used for absentee harsh light on the looming
nology regulation. Zuck- Associated Press voters and overseas mili- proposition of online voting.
erberg's visit came as the tary personnel, found that In 2018, Alaska explored us-
company warned that po- dollar antitrust fines against as child sexual exploitation attackers could "alter, stop ing an online voting system
tential regulation risked sti- the likes of Google. or terrorist recruitment. or expose how an individu- but shuttered the program
fling innovation. In an op-ed published in Well-designed frameworks al has voted." because of security con-
Zuckerberg met Margrethe the Financial Times, Zuck- for regulating harmful con- Voting security experts cerns.
Vestager, the EU's powerful erberg said big tech com- tent can outline clear ways have long argued that on- To some experts, a study
executive vice president in panies such as Facebook for governments, compa- line voting is dangerously finding holes in a smart-
charge of making Europe need closer government nies, and civil society to insecure. phone voting app wasn't a
"fit for the digital age." He supervision. share responsibilities and "We all have an interest in shock.
also had audiences with "I believe good regulation work together, the compa- increasing access to the "Not to in any way dimin-
Thierry Breton, commission- may hurt Facebook's busi- ny said. "Designed poorly, ballot, but in order to main- ish this (excellent) work,
er for the internal market, ness in the near term but these efforts risk unintend- tain trust in our elections but the fact that an online
and Vera Jourova, vice it will be better for every- ed consequences that system, we must assure mobile voting scheme has
president for values and one, including us, over the might make people less that voting systems meet serious security flaws is ulti-
transparency. long term," he wrote. He safe online, stifle expression the high technical and op- mately unsurprising," tweet-
Vestager is set on Wednes- said new rules should be and slow innovation." eration security standards ed Matt Blaze, a professor
day to release the first clear and balanced and Facebook said tech com- before they are put in the of computer science and
draft of the EU's proposed it shouldn't be left up to in- panies shouldn't be pun- field," Daniel Weitzner, an law at Georgetown Univer-
regulations on artificial in- dividual companies to set ished for publishing illegal MIT scientist who oversaw sity. "Every serious expert
telligence, including facial their own standards. speech, because it would the report, said Thursday. has warned against Inter-
recognition, and a digital Also Monday, Facebook be impractical to require The researchers said they net voting."
strategy, which could have released a "white paper" internet platforms to ap- were forced to reverse en- Voatz was used in West Vir-
major implications for tech on content regulation prove each post. "Retrofit- gineer an Android version ginia's 2018 elections, but
giants such as Facebook, outlining challenges and ting the rules that regulate of the app because Voatz state officials were quick
Google and Apple. principles for authorities to online speech for the on- hasn't allowed transparent to point out that it count-
The EU has already pio- consider when drawing up line world may be insuffi- third-party testing of the ed fewer than 200 bal-
neered strict data privacy new rules on how to deal cient. New frameworks are system. lots and had no reported
rules and issued multibillion- with harmful material such needed," the paper said.q Boston-based Voatz disput- problems.q