Governments Should Help To Control Internet Content, Says Mark Zuckerberg


03/31/2019



More active role in controlling internet content should be played by regulators and governments, says Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
 
The responsibility for monitoring harmful content on the internet is too huge for companies alone, said the Facebook founder in an op-ed published in the Washington Post. He suggested formulation of new laws in four areas: "Harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability."
 
His comments come about two weeks since a shooting incident in New Zealand was live streamed by the killer on Facebook. 
 
"Lawmakers often tell me we have too much power over speech, and frankly I agree," Zuckerberg wrote, and added that Facebook was "creating an independent body so people can appeal our decisions" about what is posted and what is taken down.
 
Zuckerberg was detailed a new rules se that he wants governments and regulators to impose on tech companies. He wrote that the new rules also need to be the same for all websites, which would make it simpler and easier to prevent "harmful content" from spreading fast over different platforms.
 
The new regulations that Zuckerberg called for include creation of common rules mandatorily applicable to all social media platforms and which would be enforced by third-party bodies so that it would be possible for controlling the spread of harmful content
 
He also called for regulations to make it mandatory for releasing of a transparency report every three months by all major tech companies so that it comes at par with financial reporting
 
Zuckerberg also wants stricter laws across the world to uphold the integrity of elections wherein all websites would be applied common standards to identify political actors. He wants regulations that would not only be applicable to candidates and elections, but also other "divisive political issues", and laws that would also be applicable outside of official campaign periods. The Facebook CEO also called for implementation of new industry-wide standards to regulate the manner in which political campaigns make use of data for online targeting of voters.
 
Zuckerberg also wants more countries to formulate and implements privacy regulations such as the the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which became implementable last year
 
He also called for creation of a "common global framework" which means that the laws are all standardised globally instead of being substantially varied from country to country
 
He also demanded very specific rules that could pin down responsibility for protection of people's data while such data is being moved from one service to another
 
 
This open latter from Zuckerberg would also be published in some European newspapers.
 
Facebook was pulled up by regulators in various countries over its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal related to misuse of data during election campaigns.
 
Facebook had however earlier announced that it was contemplating putting in certain restrictions on live-streaming following the attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand. Earlier this week, Facebook also announced that its platform would no longer allow posting related to white nationalism and separatism.
 
(Source:www.bbc.com)