British lawmakers want tougher rules for Facebook

LONDON: British lawmakers issued a scathing report on Monday that calls for tougher rules on Facebook to keep it from acting like “digital gangsters” and intentionally violating data privacy and competition laws. The report on fake news and disinformation on social media sites followed an 18-month investigation by parliament’s influential media committee. The committee recommended that social media sites should have to follow a mandatory code of ethics overseen by an independent regulator to better control harmful or illegal content. The report called out Facebook in particular, saying that the site’s structure seems to be designed to “conceal knowledge of and responsibility for specific decisions.” “It is evident that Facebook intentionally and knowingly violated both data privacy and anti-competition laws,” the report states. It also accuses chief executive Mark Zuckerberg of showing contempt for the UK parliament by declining numerous invitations to appear before the committee.