The two men will discuss the platform’s efforts to deal with terrorist recruiters, fake news, election meddling and hate speech, an aide to the French president said ahead of the closed-door talks. He said Macron wants the Facebook chief to understand the widespread concern about the misuse of social media.

While the president may make a brief statement at the beginning, there won’t be any readout on the meeting from the French side, the aide said, asking not to be named in line with French government rules.

Macron is the first national leader to sit down with Zuckerberg since the data privacy scandal broke in March, offering the Silicon Valley billionaire both an opportunity to show good will and time to explain some of the tougher issues he’s facing in private. He won’t have to address any of Macron’s concerns publicly.

For Zuckerberg, that may make the Paris leg of his trip more comfortable that his visit to the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday when lawmakers asked him whether Facebook is a monopoly that should be broken up. Zuckerberg will also attend Thursday a conference organized by the 40-year-old president to explore ways in which the tech industry can have a positive impact on consumers and society.

Palace Lunch

In Brussels, Zuckerberg spent 25 minutes responding to questions and left many lawmakers frustrated that he hadn’t addressed their questions.

In Paris, he’ll also have lunch at the Elysee Palace with executives from Tencent, SAP, Samsung, Intel, Palantir as well as the French bank BNP Paribas, defense supplier Thales and pharmaceutical giant Sanofi. Executives from Microsoft, IBM and Uber will also have one-on-ones with Macron.

The French president wants to persuade global tech giants that their reach and scale gives them responsibilities comparable to nation states, his aide said. He wants to talk to the executives about behavior that he considers predatory and also pitch France as a place to invest, the aide added.

At the conference in Paris the next day, several companies will unveil measures or new commitments in response to his appeal -- though Facebook isn’t among them.

France and its continental neighbors are gearing up for Europe’s parliamentary elections in May 2019. Macron’s aides said Facebook must activate its “election integrity” program ahead of the vote and the president will raise the issue with Zuckerberg. Macron faced battalions of online trolls and fake news providers during his winning presidential campaign last year against the nationalist Marine Le Pen and he wants the Facebook chief to understand his responsibilities, the aide said.

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