Mark Zuckerberg Refuses To Appear Before 'International Grand Committee'

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has declined to appear before the International Grand Committee which comprises at least five governments including the UK, Argentina, Australia, Ireland, and Canada.

The investigation by the committee, which is scheduled for November 27 in London, will take place in regards to the data privacy issues.

Facebook’s head of UK public policy- Rebecca Stimson and head of Canada Public Policy- Kevin Chan responded to the invite by Damian Collins, a member of the British Parliament, and Bob Zimmer, a Canadian lawmaker via a letter.

The letter states, “Thank you for the invitation to appear before your Grand Committee. As we explained in our letter of November 2nd, Mr. Zuckerberg is not able to be in London on November 27th for your hearing and sends his apologies.”

In addition to the invitation denial, Facebook has listed down the various steps it has been following over the past year regarding issues such as false news and elections-related agendas. Furthermore, the letter points out the work already presented by Facebook in previous hearings.

Five Parliaments from across the world who represent 170 million @facebook users are asking Mark Zuckerberg to give evidence to them. Retweet if you think he should come and answer questions on the 27th of November.https://t.co/div5qN8QDd

— Culture, Media and Sport Committee (@CommonsCMS) November 12, 2018

The international group of politicians is yet to respond to the denial letter. Moreover, Facebook has not addressed in the letter whether or not it will be available for an investigation in the future.

In order to get Zuckerberg to the hearing, the Grand Committee (representing over 170 million Facebook users) has also posted a tweet. Additionally, as told to CBS News by Bob Zimmer, Mark Zuckerberg will be issued a subpoena if he fails to appear before the Canadian Parliament.