Cross Country Checkup

Is it time to delete Facebook?

With a federal election around the corner — and concerns surrounding the safety of Canadians' online data and, crucially, the security of democracy — some are wondering if Facebook is taking too big a bite out of their private life.

Ignoring subpeona, Zuckerberg, Sandberg were no-shows at Commons privacy & ethics committee meeting this week

A man is silhouetted against a video screen with an Facebook logo as he poses with an Samsung S4 smartphone in this photo illustration taken in the central Bosnian town of Zenica, August 14, 2013.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg could be held in contempt of Parliament if he doesn't testify, says Conservative MP. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg skipped a House of Commons's privacy and ethics committee meeting on data privacy and democracy this week.

That lead to calls for a temporary shutdown of the social media service by one former Facebook investor. Conservative MP Bob Zimmer says the pair could be held in contempt of Parliament if they ignore a subpeona to testify.

With a federal election around the corner — and concerns surrounding the safety of Canadians' online data and, crucially, the security of democracy — some are wondering if Facebook is taking too big a bite out of their private life.

Our question this week: Is it time to delete Facebook?