Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(PARIS) — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris today, after fielding tough questions Tuesday from European Union lawmakers in Brussels.
Zuckerberg has been invited today — along with dozens of other tech bosses including Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi and IBM’s Ginni Rometty — to participate in a summit called “Tech for Good” at the official residence of the French president.
The objective of the summit is “to discuss possible contribution from technology toward public and common good” the Elysee Palace said in a statement.
The summit comes at a time when Facebook is facing mounting pressure in the United States and Europe over data privacy, after revelations in March that data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica harvested tens of millions of users’ personal data from Facebook.
After responding to U.S. lawmakers’ questions last month, Mark Zuckerberg met with European Union lawmakers Tuesday in Brussels, telling them Facebook “didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibilities,” adding, “That was a mistake, and I’m sorry for it.”
President Macron will have a one-on-one meeting with Zuckerberg at the Elysee after the summit later today. In addition to data protections, the topic of taxes will be raised, according to the Elysee Palace.
Macron has criticized U.S. tech giants for using low-tax countries in the European Union such as Ireland to reduce their corporate tax, depriving governments of billions of dollars a year in potential revenue.
Zuckerberg will also speak at a separate event in Paris Thursday called Vivatech, which is an annual commercial convention dedicated to technological innovation and startups.
Copyright © 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.