The president of the European Parliament has convinced Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg to livestream a closed-door meeting with European lawmakers this week.
Antonio Tajani tweeted, triumphantly:
Politico reported that the decision to stream the meeting arose because of public outcry about the perceived secrecy around Zuckerberg’s meetings with EU parliamentarians. The Facebook founder testified to US Congressional committees last month about data privacy, Facebook’s role in Russian interference in the US presidential election, and much else besides. The public hearings were widely followed, and Facebook’s shares jumped after Zuckerberg handled the scrutiny without any major stumbles.
Zuckerberg’s meeting with EU lawmakers—to be held on Tuesday, May 22 at 6:15pm Brussels time (12:15pm ET)—is not currently scheduled by the European Parliament’s television service, but that is where committee and plenary sessions are typically broadcast. There’s also the European Parliament Facebook page, which has 2.5 million likes, and its own Messenger bot. A Facebook Live session with Zuckerberg could engage all those followers.