UK lawmaker threatens Zuckerberg with formal summons if he doesn’t agree to testify

A top British lawmaker told Facebook on Tuesday that he will issue a formal summons for Mark Zuckerberg if the CEO does not agree to testify before his committee.

Damian Collins, who chairs the House of Commons’ Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, wrote a letter to Facebook’s head of United Kingdom policy, Rebecca Stimson, saying that testimony from another company executive last week has left a lot of unanswered questions.

{mosads}“It is worth noting that, while Mr Zuckerberg does not normally come under the jurisdiction of the UK Parliament, he will do so the next time he enters the country,” Collins wrote. “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.”

Facebook did not immediately respond when asked for comment.

The panel had invited Zuckerberg to testify last month following revelations that Cambridge Analytica, a London-based political consultancy, had improperly obtained data on 87 million Facebook users. Zuckerberg declined the invitation, instead sending Mike Schroepfer, Facebook’s chief technology officer, to brief the committee.

Collins on Tuesday said that Schroepfer’s testimony was “disappointing” and sent Stimson a list of 39 questions that the committee wants answered.

“There are over 40 million Facebook users in the UK and they deserve to hear accurate answers from the company he created and whether is able to keep their users’ data safe,” Collins wrote.