MPs Tech giants to blame for fake news
Fake news has plunged democracy into crisis with voters being manipulated by hate campaigns, say MPs.
They rounded on tech giants such as Facebook, Twitter and Google for acting “irresponsibly” over data collection and called for new laws to make them accountable for the content on their sites.
The Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee also said users’ behaviour is being “modified and changed” at the hands of social media companies.
The MPs’ investigation shone a light on everything from Facebook’s apparent failures to stop the inciting of hatred against Rohingya Muslims in Burma to the “intractability” of tech firms in recognising Russian meddling in elections.
Committee chairman Damian Collins said: “We have pulled back the curtain on the secretive world of the tech giants, who have acted irresponsibly with the vast quantities of data they collect from their users.
“Despite concerns being raised, companies l ike Facebook made it easy for developers to scrape user data and to deploy it in other campaigns without their knowledge or consent.
“Throughout our inquiry these companies have tried to frustrate scrutiny and obfuscated in their answers.”
The Government are expected to publish a white paper later this year on proposals to reform laws to make the internet and social media safer.