DEBATE: Was it right for MPs to use obscure parliamentary powers to seize Facebook documents?

Was it right for MPs to use obscure parliamentary powers to seize Facebook documents?

Kevin Craig, chief executive and founder of communications agency PLMR, says YES.

There is something poetic about British politicians using one of the most archaic parliamentary powers to tackle a very modern policy challenge.

Since the Cambridge Analytica story broke, Facebook has been famously obstructive in its dealings with the digital, culture, media and sport select committee. Mark Zuckerberg refused to meet with MPs, and when his chief technology officer eventually did, he shed little light on how this monumental data breach came to happen.

For that reason, it is only right that parliament is deploying its full powers to get to the bottom of an incident that impacted the privacy of more than a million British citizens.

Parliament is investigating vital issues that have repercussions for the lives of all social media users – and this unprecedented move responds to the lack of cooperation we have witnessed so far. If nothing else, it is a lesson for Facebook, and other tech giants, about the importance of working alongside politicians to build trust and confidence.

Sophie Jarvis, head of government affairs at the Adam Smith Institute, says NO.

Parliament seizing documents by force from an American chief executive while he was travelling to the UK is an overreach that is as chilling as it is bizarre.

MPs sent a parliamentary serjeant at arms (think a hitman-cum-bouncer) to the hotel of the founder of the US tech firm Six4Three with an instruction to hand over the documents or be escorted to parliament, with the risk of fines and imprisonment.

Our traditions of English justice mandate that authorities of any form only have the right to seize property when they have a specific suspicion. In this case, it looks more like a data-gathering stunt based on vague accusations.

In a week where our foreign secretary has secured the return of a British citizen from the UAE, it seems contradictory that we have used an antiquated legal device in a pompous and ceremonial way to hound Facebook. We must be wary of treating our close friends from across the pond like this, while preaching virtues of liberties to our not-so-close friends.