Tech

Governments must regulate social networks – Facebook exec

Published

6 years ago

June 24, 2019

Governments must regulate social networks and not the companies themselves , Facebook’ s head of global affairs and a former deputy prime minister of the UK said in an interview Monday.

“ It ’ s not for private companies, however big or small , to come up with those rules . It is for democratic politicians in the democratic world to do so , ” Clegg told the BBC.

Clegg , the former leader of UK political party the Liberal Democrats , said there was a “ pressing need ” for new “ rules of the road ” on issues including data privacy and election rules .

At the same time , companies such as Facebook should play a “ mature role” in advocating regulation , he told the BBC.
Britain has said it will make social media bosses personally liable for harmful content and shut down offending platforms under a “ world – leading ” government plan.
Coming in for heavy criticism over the past year , Facebook has instituted changes , particularly on privacy and the transparency of political campaign ads .

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg has called for “ globally harmonised ” online regulation .

Sceptics say Facebook is seeking to buy time amid calls for tougher regulation in the United States and elsewhere — with some calls to break up major tech firms and other activists questioning whether they should maintain immunity from liability for content posted by users .
AFP .