Zuckerberg faces contempt of Canadian parliament

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg could be held in contempt of Canadian Parliament if he keeps ignoring requests from lawmakers in that country to testify before their government, Canadian Conservative Member of Parliament Bob Zimmer said Tuesday.

Canadian lawmakers voted Tuesday to issue an open-ended summons for Zuckerberg and Facebook Chief Financial Officer Sheryl Sandberg, meaning the two will face a summons to appear before the Parliament the next time they set foot in Canada. If the executives fail to abide by those summons, Canadian lawmakers would vote on a motion to hold them in contempt of Parliament, Zimmer said.

If approved, that motion could result in jail time for the powerful executives, though it is unlikely it would play out that way.

“It’s only fitting that there’s an ongoing summons, so as soon as they step foot into our country they will be served and expected to [sit in front of] our committee,” said Zimmer, chairman of the Canadian House of Commons committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.

How we got here: Zimmer made the announcement after Zuckerberg and Sandberg flouted a subpoena to appear before the committee during a hearing about privacy, misinformation and hate speech attended by lawmakers from around the globe.

Throughout the testy event, lawmakers expressed outrage at the executives for failing to comply with the subpoena, instead opting to send Facebook’s head of public policy in Canada Kevin Chan and its director of public policy Neil Potts.

Jo Stevens, a U.K. member of Parliament, said at the hearing that members of the committee had crossed oceans to make it more convenient for Zuckerberg to testify. Potts said he and Chan have been tasked with representing the company.

The international hearing included representatives from countries including Ireland, Singapore, the United Kingdom and more.