UK Parliament threatens Zuckerberg with summons

British lawmakers on Tuesday requested the presence of Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg for questioning about the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

However, the lawmakers warned that if he fails to attend a session slated for May 24, the Facebook founder could face a summons.

"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," said the letter issued by the UK Parliament's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee.

Read more: Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal: What you need to know

"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."

Parliament wants answers

Facebook claims it was hoodwinked by Cambridge Analytica, a company that harvested data from millions of social media users on behalf of US President Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign.

Zuckerberg has since appeared in US Congress for a hearing, but analysts argue that the Facebook founder managed to escape tough questions that could have implicated the company.

Read more: What role did Cambridge Analytica play in the Brexit vote?

In the letter, British lawmakers made clear that Zuckerberg's company did not satisfactorily answer questions about how user data was compromised and to what extent, saying Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer "failed to answer fully on nearly 40 separate points."

'Mistakes'

British lawmakers are worried that personal data of up to 40 million British citizens may have been compromised by Cambridge Analytica or other companies involved in data harvesting.

Read more: Who needs privacy anyway?

In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica revelations, Zuckerberg said his company had "made mistakes," vowing to redress the issue and improve data protection policy.

It announced that it would produce a tool for users to delete third-party apps, further restrict developer access to user data and ban developers that misused personal data.

ls/rc (Reuters, AFP)

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