Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg has been called on by a parliamentary committee to give evidence about the use of personal data by Cambridge Analytica.

The UK-based political consulting firm is accused of using the data of 50 million Facebook members to influence the 2016 US presidential election.

Damian Collins, the chairman of the Commons inquiry into fake news, accused Facebook of "misleading" the committee.

London-based firm Cambridge Analytica denies any wrongdoing.

Mr Collins said earlier in the week that he wanted to hear from Mr Zuckerberg but has now put the request into writing.

In the letter, he says: "It is now time to hear from a senior Facebook executive with the sufficient authority to give an accurate account of this catastrophic failure of process."

It comes after the UK's Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said she would be applying to court for a warrant to search the offices of Cambridge Analytica.

The firm insists it followed the correct procedures in obtaining and using data, but it was suspended from Facebook last week.

In the letter, Mr Collins criticised other Facebook executives who had already given evidence to his committee.

"The committee has repeatedly asked Facebook about how companies acquire and hold on to user data from their site, and in particular about whether data had been taken without their consent," he wrote.

"Your officials' answers have consistently understated this risk, and have been misleading to the committee."

Now he wants to hear from a senior Facebook executive "with the sufficient authority", adding: "Given your commitment at the start of the New Year to "fixing" Facebook, I hope that this representative will be you."

Mr Collins has asked for a response to his request by 26 March.

UK Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham is investigating Cambridge Analytica over claims it used personal data to influence the US election.

Christopher Wylie, who worked with the company, claimed it amassed the data of millions of people through a personality quiz on Facebook called This is Your Digital Life that was created by an academic.

Facebook said Aleksandr Kogan, who created the personality app from which the data had been harvested, has agreed to be audited, but Mr Wylie - who made the claims about the way the data was gathered and used - has declined.

Channel 4 News has also broadcast hidden camera footage in which Cambridge Analytica chief executive Alexander Nix appears to suggest tactics his company could use to discredit politicians online.

Read more on bbc.com.