May 21, 2018

Facebook Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg’s upcoming meeting with European Union lawmakers regarding global data scandal involving Facebook will now be streamed live online, the European Parliament’s president confirmed on Monday.

“I have personally discussed with Facebook CEO, Mr Zuckerberg, the possibility of webstreaming the meeting with him.

“I am glad to announce that he has accepted this new request. Great news for EU citizens,’’ the president, Mr Antonio Tajani, tweeted.

The parliament had come under fire after it was announced initially that the meeting would be held privately and attended by select members of the parliament.

“I will not attend the meeting with Mr Zuckerberg if it is held behind closed doors.

“It must be a public hearing; why not a Facebook Live?’’ Guy Verhofstadt, the Leader of the liberal ALDE political group, said.

The meeting came as Facebook admitted in April that it had improperly shared personal data of 87 million users with British data firm, Cambridge Analytica.

Up to 2.7 million of those users are from EU countries.