Parliament to Zuck: Testify or we’ll make you
MEMBERS OF Britain’s Parliament have threatened summons Mark Zuckerberg if he doesn’t voluntarily submit evidence to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee.
The ultimatum comes after the Zuckerberg (photo) repeatedly dodged requests to appear before Parliament, sending Facebook executives in his place.
Parliament does have the power to compel the social media pioneer to appear, Committee Chair Damian Collins said.
“Following reports that he will be giving evidence to the European Parliament in May, we would like Mr Zuckerberg to come to London during his European trip. We would like the session here to place by 24 May,” the committee wrote in a letter signed by Collins.
“It is worth nothing 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,” the letter reads.
“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 contends that Facebook Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer, who most recently appeared before the committee, provided inadequate answers to its questions related to the role of social media in politics and democracy. Committee members peppered Schroepfer with questions about Facebook’s alleged “unwillingness to engage, and a desire to hold onto information and not disclose it,” The Guardian reported.
“I remain to be convinced that your company has integrity.” a member of Parliament told Schroepfer.
The committee released a list of 39 questions to which it wants answers from the tech founder.
Facebook announced during its annual F8 developer conference that it would launch its own dating feature.
The company also announced plans to build translation into its messenger feature, enabling users to communicate with anyone in the world. FACEBOOK ON Tuesday accidentally aired a feature that would flag hate speech on the social media site, triggering a First Amendment flap among users. A Facebook spokeswoman confirmed that the company was trying “to understand different types of speech, including speech we thought would not be hate.” The images showed a yellow icon and an exclamation point, with the message: “Does this post contain hate speech?” Some users were furious with what they thought was a new feature, however, arguing the embattled social media behemoth was curbing their liberties. “Facebook is censoring my account. Asking if my post contains ‘Hate Speech,’ ” tweeted conservative activist Brigitte Gabriel. “Give me a break. Opposing Radical Islam is NOT Hate Speech.” The feature appeared only momentarily for some, but it was enough for them to worry their freedom of speech is getting taken away.