The UK parliament has issued an ultimatum to Facebook, Inc. Common Stock (NASDAQ:FB) in its last attempts to force the company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg appear before it to testify. In its warning letter, the UK parliament has indicated that Zuckerberg should appear voluntarily or the first time he steps in the UK he will be forced to make the appearance.
In its letter, the parliament indicated that it wants Zuckerberg to testify before it by May 24, the same time he is supposed to appear before the European Parliament. The committee goes on to add that although Zuckerberg not under the jurisdiction of the UK Parliament,he will do so the next time he steps on UK soil.
Facebook has severely ignored calls by the DCMS committee to have its CEO and founder testify before it. Instead, the company has indicated willingness to send several minions to take the questions. The questions relate to the spread of fake news as well as the role that social media plays in politics and democracy.
In its most recent response to appear before the committee, Facebook offered to have its CTO Mike Schroepfer travel to London to take the questions. However, Schroepfer’s efforts to save the face of the company and that of its CEO were turned down by members of the UK parliament. Instead, the committee issued a statement, retaliating its calls to have the CEO appear before it. The committee indicated that Schroepfer had not given convincing answers to more than 40 of its questions.
Schroepfer spent almost five hours responding to questions touching on several topics including the company’s relationship with Cambridge Analytica which led to a huge data leak and plunged the company into a big global scandal. While appearing before the committee, Schroepfer failed to answer many questions and instead said he would refer and follow up.
The UK is now taking Facebook head on considering that it has been asking the company very straight forward answers but getting no response. The company has not issued any statement on whether the CEO will appear before it by May 24 following the ultimatum issued by the committee.
