PM wants Zuckerburg to answer questions in Australia
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull would “love” Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg to be grilled by Australian lawmakers, he said on Thursday (June 7), in the wake of revelations the tech giant allowed Chinese smartphone-makers access to user data.
The social media behemoth has drawn renewed criticism after confirming it shared data with Chinese electronics firms, including Huawei, which has been banned by the US military over cyber-espionage concerns.
Canberra has recently moved to strengthen its own intelligence capability amid growing fears of foreign, particularly Chinese, political interference.
“Certainly there are a lot of concerns about Facebook - about privacy,” Mr Turnbull told reporters in Brisbane. “I would welcome Facebook coming and testifying before our parliamentary committees.”
“Of course, we’d love to see the boss,” he said when asked if Mr Zuckerburg should appear personally.
Social networks had rapidly become “dominant in every respect” of people’s lives, the Prime Minister added, and it was important users were aware of how their data was used.