Emma Anderson

TAJANI DEFENDS FORMAT OF ZUCKERBERG QUESTIONING During a press conference, Tajani was asked about the format of Zuckerberg’s meeting, in which participants first took turns asking their questions and then at the end, Zuckerberg was able to respond to all of them. Some participants complained at the end that not all issues were addressed. “He’s not obliged [to come here], he’s not a European citizen,” Tajani said, adding that the question period had lasted a long time and Zuckerberg had to leave right after. Tajani added that Zuckerberg had agreed to answer further questions in the days to come via written responses. British MP Damian Collins, chair of the U.K. parliament’s digital, culture, media and sport select committee, reacted: “What a missed opportunity for proper scrutiny on many crucial questions raised by the MEPs. Questions were blatantly dodged on shadow profiles, sharing data between WhatsApp and Facebook, the ability to opt out of political advertising and the true scale of data abuse on the platform. “Unfortunately the format of questioning allowed Mr Zuckerberg to cherry-pick his responses and not respond to each individual point. “I echo the clear frustration of colleagues in the room who felt the discussion was shut down. It is time that Mr Zuckerberg agreed to appear in front of the DCMS Committee to provide Facebook users the answers they deserve.” — Emma Anderson, Annabelle Dickson