Facebook has said the company was "outraged" after being "deceived" over the misuse of data by Cambridge Analytica.
A company statement appeared to place the blame for the incident on the British-based firm linked to President Donald Trump, which according to Facebook violated terms of the social network by misusing data from an academic researcher.
"The entire company is outraged, we were deceived. We are committed to vigorously enforcing our policies to protect people's information and will take whatever steps are required to see that this happens," the statement said.
It added that chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and their teams "are working around the clock to get all the facts and take the appropriate action moving forward, because they understand the seriousness of this issue."
Tonight's statement came after the British parliamentary inquiry into fake news called on Mr Zuckerberg to give evidence, accusing the company of "misleading" the committee in a previous hearing.
The chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, Damian Collins, tweeted a picture of his letter to Mr Zuckerberg, in which he said the tech giant's officials had "consistently understated" the risk of companies acquiring and holding users' private data.
I have today written to @facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg calling on him to give oral evidence to @CommonsCMS following recent reports in @guardian and @nytimes pic.twitter.com/y5xnGHzaNI
— Damian Collins (@DamianCollins) March 20, 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain will consider any suggestions to give the body in charge of upholding data privacy laws more powers.
"If proposals are put forward for further powers, we can consider them as the bill passes through parliament," her spokesman told reporters, referring to data protection legislation already passing through parliament.
Mr Zuckerberg has also been invited to speak about data protection at the European Parliament.
Britain is investigating whether Facebook did enough to protect data after a whistleblower said the London-based political consultancy hired by Donald Trump improperly accessed information on 50 million Facebook users to sway public opinion.
The board of Cambridge Analytica, which is at the centre of the trans-Atlantic probe, has suspended chief executive Alexander Nix with immediate effect.
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What is Cambridge Analytica?
US and European politicians have demanded an explanation of how the consulting firm gained access to the data.
An investigation by Facebook at CA's London office was halted in order to allow the UK Information Commissioner's Office to pursue its inquiry.
Further claims about CA included allegations the company offered to entrap politicians and used ex-spies to dig for dirt on potential targets.
But the firm's boss, Alexander Nix, claimed CA was the target of media attacks because of its role in Mr Trump's successful election campaign.
