‘Digital gangsters’ should face ethics code

A clear definition of how quickly social networks will have to remove harmful content needs to be outlined, MP Damian Collins has said in response to proposals for a regulator to oversee tech giants online.

Mr Collins and the Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee he chairs recently published a major report into disinformation, stating that social media platforms are behaving like “digital gangsters” and should be forced to comply with a regulated code of ethics to tackle harmful or illegal content on their sites.

Q AWill there be government regulation? An independent regulator will be responsible for ensuring tech companies abide to a new duty of care and code of practice. The government is currently consulting on whether this should mean the creation of a brand new regulator or whether it should be housed within an existing regulator, such as Ofcom.

What will the new regulator do?

It is proposed that the regulator be given powers to ensure all companies

Q AThe MP welcomed the white paper push for regulation, but urged clarity on how long tech companies would be given to take down any content that breaches the proposed rules.

“We need a clear definition of how quickly social media companies should be required to take down harmful content, and this should include not only when it is referred to them by users, but also when it is easily within their power to discover this content for themselves,” Mr Collins said.

“The regulator should also give guidance on the responsibilities of social media companies to ensure that their algorithms are not consistently directing users to harmful content.”

All firms that let users share content covered

affected by a new regulatory framework fulfil their duty of care. Tech firms could be issued substantial fines for any proven failures. The government is also consulting on giving the regulator even tougher powers to make individual senior managers criminally liable for any breaches. Who will regulation affect?

Any companies that let users share or discover user-generated content or interact with others online will be affected by the regulations – particularly social networks such as Facebook.

Q A