Zuckerberg has 'no plans' to attend UK data privacy hearing despite threat of formal summons

[Polycount]

The Cambridge Analytica data privacy controversy has caused quite a few problems for Facebook.

The company has actively taken steps to address user concerns, but users weren't the only ones who had tough questions for the social media platform.

In April, company CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared before Congress twice over the course of two days to answer virtually any question thrown at him, though how substantial his answers were has been the topic of much debate.

At any rate, the UK decided they'd like to ask Zuckerberg a few questions of their own, requesting that the CEO appear before the UK's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee.

Unfortunately for Parliament, Zuckerberg declined to appear in March, sending fellow executive Mike Schroepfer to testify in his stead.

Schroepfer's responses weren't enough to satisfy Parliament, though. As a result, the Committee once again asked Zuckerberg to answer their questions, using much stronger language this time around.

Indeed, the Committee made it clear that should Zuckerberg decline their invitation again, they would consider issuing a "formal summons" compelling his appearance the next time he enters the UK.

It seems the CEO isn't too worried about the Committee's "invitation," though. According to Parliament, Facebook says Zuckerberg has "no plans" to travel to the UK anytime soon.

"If Mark Zuckerberg truly recognises the ‘seriousness’ of these issues as they say they do, we would expect that he would want to appear in front of the Committee and answer questions that are of concern not only to Parliament, but Facebook’s tens of millions of users in this country," Committee Chair Damian Collins MP said in a statement.

Collins went on to invite Zuckerberg to testify by video, should that prove more convenient for the CEO. Facebook has not yet responded to this new invitation, but we'll update this article if we learn more.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/74640-zuckerburg-has-no-plans-attend-uk-data-privacy.html

 

[wiyosaya]

All hail King Zuckerberg!

 

[ForgottenLegion]

Can't blame him after the grilling he got in the US.

 

[Adhmuz]

To my amazement people continue to use Facebook and not actually know what is going on behind their backs. Zuckerberg's actions on the other hand are of no surprise however, he clearly has become void of all traces of what may be referred to as a soul.

 

[cliffordcooley]

he clearly has become void of all traces of what may be referred to as a soul.

Sounds familiar, much like the rest of society.

 

[Uncle Al]

After the sins he committed he should attend each and EVERY hearing, grilling, thrashing, etc. And those countries should show no mercy to him or his company, after all, all of this didn't happen by accident; it was well planned with him reaping the financial benefits ......

 

[treetops]

Yeah Europe doesn't f around, he's scurred.

 

[Ravey]

There's only one way to get Mark Zuckerberg to come to the UK to answer questions, and that's to shut down access to facebook in the uk until he agrees to to turn up in front of parliament. It's only an inconvenience to users in the uk if we lose access, but to Facebook it will hit them where it hurts.. The Shareholders.

 

[Bubbajim]

There's only one way to get Mark Zuckerberg to come to the UK to answer questions, and that's to shut down access to facebook in the uk until he agrees to to turn up in front of parliament. It's only an inconvenience to users in the uk if we lose access, but to Facebook it will hit them where it hurts.. The Shareholders.

Facebook has like 2 billion users worldwide, and about 35 million users in the UK. I'm sure they wouldn't care too much to temporarily lose access to the UK.

Also, no UK politician would want to be the MP who stole Facebook. Plus in the current Cabinet it'd likely be Matt Hancock or Sajid Javid who had to make that decision, and neither of them would dream of it.

 

[iamcts]

Can't blame him after the grilling he got in the US.

Congress did everything but grill him. Our representatives in Congress are quite useless, and the majority of the gray-hairs don't even know how Facebook works, or the internet for that matter. He came out completely unscathed, and their stock recovered to pre-scandal levels.

 

[Bubbajim]

Congress did everything but grill him. Our representatives in Congress are quite useless, and the majority of the gray-hairs don't even know how Facebook works, or the internet for that matter. He came out completely unscathed, and their stock recovered to pre-scandal levels.

"So Mr Zuckerfeller, say I wanted my grandkids to give me a Facebook, do I need a special shelf for it? Will it fit on a memory doo-dah or should I just Internet it?"

 

[Teko03]

Can't blame him after the grilling he got in the US.

My first thought...after seeing him sweat, I don't think he wants to go through any thing like that ever again.

 

[Capaill]

Oh for God's sake, he can't go to every single country in the world just because they want to ask him questions. If he attended a congressional hearing in the country where his company is based, that should be enough. He has got lesser staff to attend anything else in his place.

Also, what sort of a mickey mouse hearing is "UK's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee"? That commands no respect.

Personally I don't see why FB is getting such hate. We have always known that the social media aspect of the site was just a front for a massive data mining and data selling business. You don't stay in business by offering free accounts to play game on and post photos of what people ate. The use of data by Cambridge Analytica to swing votes in various countries is a problem with Cambridge Analytica and businesses like that should be investigated and shut down ASAP. Alternatively, if people are worried about fake and troll FB accounts swinging votes, then they exist on every social media platform. I'm sure Twitter and YouTube have millions of them. Why blame FB specifically?

 

[wiyosaya]

he clearly has become void of all traces of what may be referred to as a soul.

Sounds familiar, much like the rest of society.

After the sins he committed he should attend each and EVERY hearing, grilling, thrashing, etc. And those countries should show no mercy to him or his company, after all, all of this didn't happen by accident; it was well planned with him reaping the financial benefits ......

Zuck should just own up to his part in the matter; however, I expect he will lack the integrity to do so.

Why blame FB specifically?

538 million fake accounts, and if that is not enough, consider this: They are part of the problem, and cracking down on the parasites has to start somewhere especially given the magnitude of known garbage they enable within their system.

 

[Burty117]

Haha! People in the comment section who thinks Zuck got a grilling from Congress.
Did you even watch any of it? It was a joke, they had like 2 decent questions out of (what felt like) hundreds that they asked him. Hell the majority of them don't even realize most websites on the internet are funded by Ad revenue...

It was extremely painful to watch, not for Zuck, I felt for Zuck, he basically had to explain to his grandpa how the internet works, it was most embarrassing for Congress as they didn't have many relevant questions to ask and he got mostly duplicate questions from them.

 

[Polycount]

Haha! People in the comment section who thinks Zuck got a grilling from Congress.
Did you even watch any of it? It was a joke, they had like 2 decent questions out of (what felt like) hundreds that they asked him. Hell the majority of them don't even realize most websites on the internet are funded by Ad revenue...

It was extremely painful to watch, not for Zuck, I felt for Zuck, he basically had to explain to his grandpa how the internet works, it was most embarrassing for Congress as they didn't have many relevant questions to ask and he got mostly duplicate questions from them.

It's worth pointing out that the UK's questions to Zuckerberg's colleague Schroepfer were significantly more informed and on-topic.

This is just my opinion, but if I had to guess why he's ducking out of the UK hearings, it's because he knows he'll get much tougher questions.

I could be wrong, though.

 

[JaredTheDragon]

And yet NPR is reporting that he IS going.