Members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage have adopted a motion to summon Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg to testify before elected Canadian officials.
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The committee is keen to hear Mr. Zuckerberg as the government is working on a reform of the broadcasting law that aims to limit the virtual monopoly that web giants like Facebook have on the information market.
But we should not be under any illusions: Mark Zuckerberg has already been subpoenaed to testify before Canadian parliamentarians on more than one occasion, but these requests have gone unheeded.
The committee requested that Mr. Zuckerberg testify for 90 minutes within a maximum of 30 days. The motion was carried in camera.
Minister of Canadian Heritage Steven Guilbeault is expected to table his bill in the coming months. The Minister’s objective is to increase the share of income that producers of information will receive.
Mr. Guilbeault denounced Facebook’s tactics when the company temporarily prevented its users in Australia from sharing news on its platform.
NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice asked last November that the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner investigate an employee of the Department of Heritage regarding possible links with Facebook.
Facebook Canada has already attempted to recruit officials of Parliament to refine its lobbying strategy with the Canadian government.
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