Facebook could be fined more than £1billion if it breaks new data protection laws, Matt Hancock warned today.

The Culture Secretary said the measure was at the heart of a package of reforms that would help Britain lead the world in setting the terms on how social media giants operate.

Mr Hancock set out plans today to end the 'Wild West' of the internet in which the biggest social media firms set the rules on how they collect and use private data.

But speaking at a Westminster lunch, Mr Hancock refused to say whether he would keep his own Facebook account after revelations user data was misused by Cambridge Analytica as part of political campaigns.

His comments came just hours after Mark Zuckerberg finally broke his silence on the data breach - and apologised to the site's users.

The Facebook boss went on television to apologise for the 'major breach of trust' and vow to tighten up the firm's rules.

Facebook could be fined more than £1billion if it breaks new data protection laws, Matt Hancock (pictured today on GMB) warned today

CEO Mark Zuckerberg (pictured on CNN last night) has admitted Facebook 'made mistakes' leading up to the Cambridge Analytica privacy breach, which has led to accusations the firm mismanaged user dat

Mr Hancock refused to say whether he would keep his own Facebook account after revelations user data was misused by Cambridge Analytica as part of political campaigns (file image)

Mr Hancock admitted to understanding why people had lost 'trust' in Facebook and were deleting accounts.

He said Government reforms meant users soon be able to transfer data 'wholesale' to a different social network.

Outlining new measures to set rules on how social media firms use data, he said: 'We have a real chance to be the place that sets the rules for how the internet works.

'The new powers in the Data Protection Bill mean the Information Commissioner can fine up to 4 per cent if platforms don't play by the rules.

'This means Facebook, if it breaks the rules, could face fines of up to £1.1billion from May.

'The Bill also means people will have the right to move all their data wholesale from one social network to another.

'From May if people lose trust in a social media platform they can move to another one at the click of a button. This will concentrate minds.

'After this week's revelations, it is time social media platforms to come clean with what data they really hold on people.'

Mr Hancock was challenged to say whether he would take advantage of the powers and close his own Facebook account.

But he refused to answer directly - instead promoting his own much-mocked 'Matt Hancock App' as a 'pleasant place to be'.

Timeline: How the Facebook data crisis has unfolded March 18 - Facebook suspends Donald Trump’s data operations team for misusing people’s personal information as Cambridge Analytica story breaks. CA's use of Facebook data branded a ‘grossly unethical experiment’ by social media giant who said their policies had been breached; March 19 - US markets open and Facebook shares plunge over its handling of personal data. Facebook also hires its own forensics team to investigate Cambridge Analytica and they start searching CA's offices in London. But CA refuse to allow Britain's Information Commissioner's team in and force her to go to court for a warrant. March 20 - Facebook l hold an emergency meeting to let employees ask questions about Cambridge Analytica as their share prices plunges. But Mark Zuckerberg fails to show up and is yet to speak about the crisis that has seen billions wiped off the value of his company. The billionaire is also asked to appear before Parliament to answer allegations his company has lied about how it handles data. March 21 - Architect of app that helped harvest data for Cambridge Analytica says tens of thousands of other apps might be doing the same job. Advertisement

Pressed on whether he understood why people are quitting Facebook, he said: 'Of course I understand why people are deleting Facebook accounts.

'Without trust people will understandably continue to remove their Facebook accounts. Without transparency over how data is used, there can be no trust.'

Asked if the government will continue to advertise with Facebook given the recent revelations, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister has expressed concerns.

‘Clearly, Facebook advertising is something we would keep under constant review.’

He added: ‘We know the advertising body ISBA is talking to Facebook and we would want to hear their views before considering any further action.’

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has admitted Facebook 'made mistakes' leading up to the Cambridge Analytica privacy breach, which has led to accusations the firm mismanaged user data.

The billionaire, 33, also announced a crackdown on apps used to hijack details from users after the Cambridge Analytica scandal slashed the social network's value by $50billion (£35m) and his own fortune by $5billion (£3.5m).

Speaking for the first time last night, five days after the data breach emerged, he said: 'This was a major breach of trust and I'm really sorry that this happened. Our responsibility now is to make sure this doesn't happen again'.

And in a contrite message to victims and those planning to delete their profiles he said: 'We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can't then we don't deserve to serve you'.

He added: 'We need to make sure there are no other Cambridge Analyticas out there'.

Facebook's revenues soared to billions of pounds after it started giving away users' details, it emerged today.

The social media giant practically doubled its takings every year after opening up profiles to 'tens of thousands' of app developers.

Facebook users were yesterday waking up to how much private information has been handed out. During the data gold-rush – which lasted from 2009 to 2015 – it appears almost anyone who described themselves as a 'developer' could freely mine Facebook's database.

In this period, the technology firm's revenues rose sharply, from £500million in 2009 to nearly £13billion by 2015.

'I'm really sorry this happened': Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg finally apologises and admits mistakes which led to massive breach of user data

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg was humbled on US TV last night as he said sorry for the 'major breach of trust' after 50million members had their personal data harvested without their knowledge.

The billionaire, 33, also announced a crackdown on apps used to hijack details from users after the Cambridge Analytica scandal slashed the social network's value by $50billion (£35m) and his own fortune by $5billion (£3.5m).

Speaking for the first time last night, five days after the data breach emerged, he said: 'This was a major breach of trust and I'm really sorry that this happened. Our responsibility now is to make sure this doesn't happen again'.

And in a contrite message to victims and those planning to delete their profiles he said: 'We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can't then we don't deserve to serve you'.

He added: 'We need to make sure there are no other Cambridge Analyticas out there'.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has apologized for the massive data breach that compromised information of tens of millions of users

Mr Zuckerberg, who said he open to stricter government regulation of his website, admitted he had failed to get to grips with 'adversaries' like the Russians trying to interfere in the 2016 US presidential race using fake Facebook accounts and campaign groups.

He also revealed he is 'sure someone's trying' to meddle with the upcoming US midterm elections.

Facebook's billionaire founder has admitted he failed to 'lock down' user data and stop Russian election meddling.

He said: 'What's clear is that in 2016, we were not as on top of a number of issues as we should have, whether it was Russian interference or fake news.

'I'm sure there is a 'version 2' of whatever the Russian effort was in 2016. I'm they'll be working on that.

Earlier on Wednesday, Zuckerberg broke his silence over the Cambridge Analytica scandal on Wednesday in a lengthy Facebook post shared at 3.50pm

'There are going to be some new tactics that we need to make sure that we observe and get in front of'.

When asked about interference in the upcoming midterms he said: 'I'm sure someone's trying.

He added: 'What we see is a lots of folks trying to sow division. That's a major tactic that we saw Russia try to do. Most of what they did was not about the election it was mostly about dividing people.

'They'd run a group for pro-immigration reform and they'd run another group against immigration reform to just try to pit people against each other.

'And a lot of this was done with fake accounts that we could do a better job of tracing and using AI tools to be able to scan and observe a lot of what is going on and I'm confident that we're going to do a much better job.

Mr Zuckerberg also admitted he had failed to get to grips with Russian meddling

'Now the reality is with a community of two billion people, I can't promise that we're going to find everything. But what I can commit to is that we're going to make it as hard as possible for these adversaries to do that and I think that we're going to do a much better job'.

Zuckerberg said on Wednesday that his company made mistakes in how it handled data belonging to 50 million of its users and promised tougher steps to restrict developers' access to such information.

He said: 'I wish we'd taken those steps earlier. That is probably the biggest mistake that we made here'.