Mark Zuckerberg threatened with summons over refusal to face MPs
2 min read
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been threatened with a summons which would force him to face MPs next time he is in Britain.
The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee issued the warning after a Facebook official, who was sent in Mr Zuckerberg’s place, was evasive when questioned over the firm’s behaviour.
MPs are investigating the social media giant in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which saw millions of Facebook users’ data harvested without their permission.
The committee is also looking into the use of fake news and Russian meddling in recent elections.
As part of the inquiry, Mike Schroepfer, Facebook’s chief technology officer, faced MPs for five hours after Mr Zuckerberg repeatedly refused requests to appear personally.
But committee chair Damian Collins said he was unimpressed with the Facebook chief's performance after Mr Schroepfer dodged dozens of questions and instead promised to provide written answers at a later date.
Mr Collins said: "Mark Zuckerberg’s right-hand man, whom we were assured could represent his views, failed to answer many specific and detailed questions about Facebook’s business practices.
"Given the large number of outstanding questions for Facebook to answer, Mr Zuckerberg should still appear in front of the committee.
"We hope he will respond positively to our request but if not the committee will resolve to issue a formal summons for him to appear when he is next in the UK."
