Details of a 2018 meeting between Facebook’s CEO and then Culture Secretary Matt Hancock have been published following a FOI request by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
The papers show Mark Zuckerberg called the UK “anti-tech” and expressed concern over the government’s “tone” on potential regulations to the web.
Mr Hancock said he wanted to work with the company to implement an “innovation friendly” law.
The minutes finally published after a two year legal battle reveal details of a meeting that took place in May 2018 at a technology conference in Paris.
The document made and realised by the culture department said Mr Zuckerberg “spoke of an anti-tech UK government and said he jokes about adding the UK as the only country in the world he will not visit”.
“MZ said the UK is the obvious territory in Europe for them to invest in, but they are now considering looking elsewhere.”
The minutes also stated he supported the government’s decision to seek to regulate the internet through law but was “worried about tone”.
Mr Hancock said he “wanted to use the decision to legislate as a new beginning for UK government relationships with platforms” and that “the tone can shift from threatening regulation to encouraging collaborative working to ensure legislation is proportionate and innovation-friendly.”
Responding to the Freedom of Information (FOI) release, ex-chair of the culture committee Damien Collins said the notes proved Mr Zuckerberg had been “running scared” of MPs’ investigation into disinformation and fake news – he accused him of being “afraid” of scrutiny.
A spokesman for the company said: “Facebook has long said we need new regulations to set high standards across the internet.
“In fact last year Mark Zuckerberg called on governments to establish new rules around harmful content, privacy, data portability, and election integrity.
“The UK is our largest engineering hub outside of the US and just this year we created 1,000 new roles in the country.”
Editor-in-Chief | Carl D. Pearson has been involved in British politics and media from an early age, with the key knowledge of what it takes to run a news organisation for the 21st century. Mr Pearson, as Editor-in-chief, is responsible for supervising the daily tasks of publishing media and content to UNN’s website and various platforms.
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