‘Rein in tech giants to stop spread of lies’
Britain’s democracy is on the line
TECHNOLOGY GIANTS such as Facebook and Google could be fined or even blocked in an effort to tackle the spread of misinformation that is “absolutely corrosive for democracy”, a group of peers has recommended.
The Lords Committee on Democracy and Digital Technologies said the Government must act to deal with a “pandemic of misinformation”, and one step would be to give broadcast regulator Ofcom additional powers to punish digital platforms for failing to protect users.
In a new report, the committee said power online had been ceded to a “few unelected and unaccountable digital corporations”, and regulation is needed to prevent these firms negatively influencing public debate and democracy.
The committee has called on the Government to publish its Online Harms Bill immediately to ensure that companies are properly held to account for misinformation spreading on their platforms. The report also calls for political advertising to be brought into line with other forms of advertising in terms of requirements around truth and accuracy, and the introduction of a digital ombudsman to oversee the moderation of online content and provide a point of appeal .
Lord Puttnam, chair of the committee, said: “We are living through a time in which trust is collapsing.
“Part of the reason for the decline in trust is the unchecked power of digital platforms. These international behemoths exercise great power without any matching accountability, often denying responsibility for the harm some of the content they host can cause, while continuing to profit from it.
“We’ve seen clear evidence of this in recent months through a dangerous rise of misinformation about Covid-19. That must stop – it is time for the Government to get a grip of this issue.”
THERE is a very simple explanation why Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee has not sat since before December’s election – the longest break since it was established in 1994.
It is said Boris Johnson is fearful of the committee’s diligent and long-awaited report into alleged Russian interference in British democracy. Completed last October, it was initially put on hold by the election.
Yet, given how social media and the internet are open to manipulation, either by rogue foreign powers like Russia or the more unscrupulous political campaigners, it explains why trust in politics is at a dangerously low level.
This issue also goes to the heart of today’s House of Lords report on the “pandemic of misinformation” that now poses an existential threat to Britain’s democracy.
An issue highlighted by on election day last year, the report says the Government must take action “without delay” to ensure tech giants are held responsible for the content shared on their platforms.
And the reason is this
– the standards that do, in fact, regulate the print and broadcast media also need to be applied to Facebook, Twitter and others to stop the spread of unsubstantiated rumours, from election claims to Covid-19 conspiracy theories or personal slurs.
As Lord Puttnam, chair of the Lords Democracy and Digital Technologies Committee, says, these “international behemoths exercise great power without any matching accountability”. He’s right. Waiting until 2024 for the Draft Online Harms Bill is not good enough – it might not even be possible to pass it, on that time-scale, before the next election.
The Government has to give Ofcom powers now to act. And this also means publishing the Russia report if Ministers are serious about safeguarding the integrity of our democracy and public debate.