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Mark Zuckerberg 'Not Able' To Attend International Disinformation Hearing (cnet.com)

Mark Zuckerberg is "not able" to attend a joint disinformation hearing in London, Facebook says. "In a letter to the UK's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, the company declined to say why Zuckerberg couldn't attend, but said it remains 'happy to cooperate' with the inquiry," reports CNET. "The letter also laid out some of the efforts Facebook has made over the last year in areas like fighting fake news and striving for transparency in political ads." From the report: Damian Collins, chair of the committee, is leading the charge and noted that the social network's response is "hugely disappointing." "The fact that he has continually declined to give evidence, not just to my committee, but now to an unprecedented international grand committee, makes him look like he's got something to hide," he said in an emailed statement."

Facebook declined the initial invitation from the British and Canadian politicians in October, prompting them to send another with additional signatures from their Argentinian, Australian and Irish counterparts. This came after Zuckerberg turned down a spring invitation to give evidence to the UK Parliament about Facebook's role in the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, since he'd already answered questions from the European Union's Parliament and the U.S. Congress.

4 of 80 comments (clear)

  1. Really? by zippo01 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook are disinformation. The more I read and hear about "social media" the more I agree with other that it's been more of a hindrance to society then anything. All it's done is make a handful of people rich off of other peoples suffering and privacy.

  2. New euphemism? by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Is "not able to attend" the new phrase for "doesn't want to attend"?

    [ Asking for various Secret Service agents in Paris. :-) ]

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  3. Would you go? by BringsApples · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why would anyone go sit around being grilled, if they didn't HAVE to? Seems totally unreasonable to me. I wouldn't go either - sitting around, looking like a dick.

    --
    Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
  4. Facebook Abstainers Could Be Labeled Suspicious by tepples · · Score: 3, Insightful

    no one forced anyone to sign up for a Facebook or Twitter account.

    True, even if something is a condition of finding a job (see "Facebook Abstainers Could Be Labeled Suspicious" from July 2012), it isn't "forced". But the alternative might be starvation.