Social Media Tighter Regulation Against Fake News

Tighter regulation on technology platforms needed to stop the spread of fake news.

20:19 27 August 2018

Politicians, regulators and even advertisers are calling for tighter regulation on technology platforms that carry news and current affairs in an effort to stop the spread of fake news.  

 

Facebook, which has suffered a 20per cent plunge in value in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, has responded to the growing demand by running a big ad campaign insisting “fake news is not our friend” and using established media outlets to get out its message.

 

Damian Collins, the chairman of Commons digital, culture, media and sport select committee, demanded that tech companies “take greater responsibility for misleading and harmful content on their sites” and provide “greater transparency for users on the origin of content that has been presented to them”.

 

Importantly, that content could include misleading or harmful ads, especially political messaging. The committee also raised the possibility of an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority into fake accounts.

 

Sharon White, the chief executive of Ofcom, added that tech companies need to be “more accountable” and “the argument for independent regulatory oversight has never been stronger”.