Sir Lynton Crosby could be called to give evidence to a House of Commons select committee on disinformation after the Guardian revealed how his lobbying company, CTF Partners, was involved in running a propaganda network on Facebook on behalf of foreign states and major corporate clients.

MPs told the Guardian they would seek to summon representatives of CTF to discuss their role in running a disinformation network that reached tens of millions of people. It comes as trade groups seek to distance themselves from CTF and its activities.

Select committee member Jo Stevens said she would be looking to summon Crosby himself to give evidence, comparing his company’s tactics to those used by the defunct business Cambridge Analytica.

“The parallels between the types of work SCL [Cambridge Analytica’s parent company] and Cambridge Analytica did and Lynton Crosby’s CTF are unnerving,” she said. “Crosby appears to be something of an expert in fake news and disinformation so evidence from him would be very helpful to our ongoing inquiry.”

She added: “The latest revelations also add to the long list of unanswered questions our committee has for Facebook. Yet again, its systems appear to have failed to do what they were supposed to.”

Fellow committee member Ian Lucas also said he would seek to call representatives of Crosby’s company to give evidence: “I’d be very interested in hearing what they have to say. I will raise this with the select committee when we next meet in September.”

CTF Partners, which was co-founded by Crosby, a close ally of the prime minister, Boris Johnson, has strongly denied it broke any of Facebook’s rules while running its propaganda networks and said it operated entirely within the law. It repeatedly declined to discuss its activities on behalf of specific clients when contacted by the Guardian. It said it had no ability to influence Johnson or his new cabinet and stated it did not create “fake news”.

Among its campaigns, CTF Partners ran dozens of pages on behalf of the Saudi government, as well as political campaigns on behalf of major polluters, and big-budget campaigns pushing for a no-deal Brexit. The links between the Facebook pages were not visible to the general public, who had no idea who was funding them.

Lucas said the lack of transparency on how Crosby’s company used Facebook to run campaigns raised issues for his committee. “Facebook is a platform that is beyond regulation at this time. It’s the most important political battleground at the next election and is being used by small groups of people who can use it effectively and decisively in the election to come.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The astroturfed ‘news’ page Londoners for Transport linked to Sir Lynton Crosby’s CTF Partners. Photograph: web

He said there remained major holes in the regulatory system. “Those holes were exploited in the 2016 referendum and are capable of being exploited in exactly the same way [in an election]. It seems to me that that operation has already been started.”

Lobbying trade groups have been swift to distance themselves from Crosby’s company following the Guardian’s reporting. The main trade body for British lobbyists said the company’s astroturfing activities on Facebook were “entirely unethical”.

Rachael Clamp, of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, said: “The alleged practices featured in yesterday’s report are entirely unethical and do not – in any way – represent professional lobbying. Lobbying is an essential element of public policy making and the vast majority of lobbyists operate ethically.”

George McGregor, the co-chair of the Public Affairs Board, said Crosby’s activities were out of step with the wider industry. “Such alleged activity is a million miles from the professional public affairs industry in the UK which operates with the highest ethical standards,” he said.

“If CTF were a Public Affairs Board member it would be bound by a code of transparency and honesty. They would have to declare their clients publicly, reveal the staff who undertook public affairs and always be upfront about who they were representing.”