Zuckerberg threatened with parliamentary summons next time he's on UK soil unless he gives evidence to MPs
Damian Collins, the Conservative MP who chairs the Commons culture committee, has issued yet another request to the Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg asking him to give evidence to the committee’s inquiry into “fake news”. But now he is threatening to issue a formal summons to Zuckerberg when he next steps foot on British soil.
Collins has set out the demand in an open letter to Facebook’s head of policy in the UK. He says that Zuckerberg needs to appear because the evidence from Mike Schroepfer, the Facebook chief technical officer sent to address the committee in place of Zuckerberg last month, “lacked many of the important details” needed. Schroepfer failed to answer fully on almost 40 points, Collins says.
He says Zuckerberg is giving evidence to the European parliament in May and he suggests Zuckerberg visits London to give evidence to the committee on 24 May. Collins goes on:
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. 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 power of select committees to summon witnesses is limited. In extremis they can issue a formal summons and this involves the serjeant at arms, or a proxy, being despatched to deliver a legalistic letter. (It’s a bit like serving a writ.) It happened to the Murdochs seven years ago and Collins is Zuckerberg could get the same treatment when he next comes to London - or, conceivably, the moment he gets off a plane at Heathrow.
The days when parliament could use force to bring someone to the Commons are long gone. Anyone who receives a summons can ignore it. But the Commons would in those circumstances pass a resolution censuring them for contempt of parliament, and normally the reputation threat that involves is enough persuade people to turn up (as happened with the Murdochs).
The letter is here (www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/culture-media-and-sport/180501-Chair-to-Rebecca-Stimson-Facebook-re-oral-evidence-follow-up.pdf). My colleague Carole Cadwalladr has tweeted it.