UK Parliament Threatens Zuckerberg With “Formal Summons”
- Zuckerberg might face a "formal summons" from the UK parliament if he fails to appear before them by May 24.
- The parliament's Digital, Culture, Media, and Sports Committee wants to ask the Facebook CEO question regarding the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and the 2016 Brexit referendum.
- Zuckerberg previously sent Facebook Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer to answer the parliament's questions, but reportedly he provided unsatisfactory answers to 39 questions.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, might be facing a “formal summons” from the UK which will require him to appear in front of British lawmakers the next time he comes to the country. It so happens that the Parliament has been requesting the social media company to come forth and answer some of their questions.
At first Mike Schroepfer, Facebook Chief Technology Officer was sent to appear before the Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media, and Sports Committee, but failed to provide adequate replies to 39 questions the lawmakers presented to him. So now, the committee is requesting Zuckerberg to present himself in front of them and answers their queries regarding the Cambridge Analytica data mining scandal and the impact of fake news in regards to the 2016 Brexit referendum.
Image Courtesy of CNN.com
Damian Collins, the committee chairman, has requested Zuckerberg to present himself multiple times, but instead, the company CEO sent other company executives in his place. Currently, Collins has reiterated his request and asks Zuckerberg to appear before the committee by May 24, when the Facebook chief is reportedly scheduled to visit Europe.
According to the letter, “It is worth noting that, while Mr. Zuckerberg does not normally come under the jurisdiction of the UK Parliament, he will do so next time he enters the country. [...] We hope that 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.”
The committee's inquiry into the matter began last year in July. Among all the question they have prepared for Facebook, Schroepfer failed to answer 39 of them which includes topics such as dark ads, foreign spending on election-related ads, third-party app developers, and how Facebook stores user data and its privacy discretions.