Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is “interested” in visiting Malta to use the country’s unique social media landscape as a testing ground for new products to strengthen digital regulation, Maltese MEP Roberta Metsola said.

Dr Metsola told Times of Malta that she invited Mr Zuckerberg to visit Malta and Gozo to see the islands’ potential for himself. “For his part, Facebook's CEO was very interested and said discussions will continue,” she said.

During their discussion she raised the prospect of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp using Malta and Gozo and the specific realities of the country – with more than 80 per cent of the population on social media, most people getting their news from the platform and an independent media landscape with strong societal roots and clear lines of ownership - as a testing ground for new products and services that could be rolled out in the future.

We need to see how to ensure... ethical standards are adhered to and the information people find online is reliable and transparent.

Dr Metsola, who is the EPP spokesperson on these issues and the head of the PN delegation to the European Parliament, spoke to Mr Zuckerberg over a two-hour dinner in Brussels on Monday evening. Some 10 people representing European politicians leading the debate on digital regulation, privacy, hate speech and fighting disinformation and 'fake news' attended the dinner.

Speaking on The Morning Vibe, a radio morning show on Vibe FM, on Wednesday morning Dr Metsola said she was sitting right across the table from Mr Zuckerberg during the dinner. They spoke about the need for legislators and tech companies to play their part in keeping people and businesses safe online, stopping hate and extremism while protecting privacy, safeguarding freedom of speech while fighting disinformation, and ensuring the media is able to bring people the truth.

"We need to make sure that our legal frameworks are adaptable in this digital age to make sure we champion innovation and keep people and their data safe at the same time. Social media has changed the way our world works, and how we respond to real-time challenges, but the debate cannot be limited to social media, we need to see how to ensure the potential of things like artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, e-sports and more are grasped while ensuring ethical standards are adhered to and the information people find online is reliable and transparent," she said.