Mark Zuckerberg’s name should be removed from our hospital, San Francisco politician says

‘It is not normal for private entities to then use that information to spread antisemitic conspiracy theories,’ Aaron Peskin says

Mark Zuckerberg has been criticised as the number of Facebook-related scandals has mounted (AFP/Getty)

A San Francisco politician is attempting to have Mark Zuckerberg’s name removed from one of the city’s hospitals.

Aaron Peskin, the California city’s supervisor, announced at a board of supervisors meeting on Tuesday that he has asked the city attorney’s office to remove Mr Zuckerberg’s name from the Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center.

The move comes amid a series of scandals involving the social network giant that Mr Zuckerberg has struggled to contain.

The 34-year-old was subject to a barrage of criticism from politicians worldwide this week, after he again refused to address allegations Facebook is undermining democratic institutions.

The UK parliament is investigating the company after Cambridge Analytica, which worked on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, obtained the personal data of 87 million Facebook users from a researcher, with the resulting scandal drawing attention to the use of data analytics in politics.

US news reports last week revealed Facebook paid an opposition research firm to produce negative stories about its critics, including philanthropist and frequent target of the far-right, George Soros.

“It cannot be considered normal for corporations to hire political consultancy firms to perform opposition research on their critics,” Mr Peskin said at the board of supervisors meeting, according to San Francisco’s Mission Local news website.

“It is not normal for private entities to then use that information to spread antisemitic conspiracy theories on platforms that they control.

“It is not normal for Mark Zuckerberg and [Facebook chief operating officer] Sheryl Sandberg to refuse to accept responsibility, and to publicly distance themselves from acts that they personally instigated. In fact it is abhorrent.”

A spokesman for the city attorney’s office told the news outlet it had received the request.

Facebook has been contacted for comment.