Some European politicians have criticized the closed-door session in which Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg will appear before the European Parliament.

"I will not attend the meeting with Mr Zuckerberg if it's held behind closed doors. It must be a public hearing -- why not a Facebook Live?" Guy Verhofstadt, who leads the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, tweeted.

"Glad that Mark Zuckerberg accepted invitation from @Europarl_EN and will come to Brussels to answer European questions on privacy. Pity this will not be a public hearing," Vera Jourova, the European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, wrote on Twitter.

The founder and CEO of Facebook has accepted an invitation to come to Brussels as soon as next week, Antonio Tajani, president of the European Parliament, said in a Wednesday press release.

Facebook faces a barrage of public criticism over how the data of tens of millions of its users was abused, and concerns over whether it has moved rapidly enough to remove questionable content.

But in stark contrast with his public and televised appearance in front of the United States Congress in April, Zuckerberg is scheduled to attend a closed session in Europe with no cameras.

The Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament will meet on May 22 with Zuckerberg to discuss the use of personal data of Facebook users, after which Tajani will inform media of the discussions.