UK: Parliament to grill Facebook chiefs over 'fake news'
Parliament to grill Facebook chiefs over 'fake news'
Executives at Facebook, Google and Twitter are expected
to be called into Parliament and grilled on whether they are doing enough to
stop the trend.
By Ben Riley-Smith, assistant political editor 14 JANUARY
2017 • 10:15PM
An inquiry into “fake news” is set to be launched by an
influential cross-party committee of MPs within months amid fears the
phenomenon is undermining democracy.
Executives at Facebook, Google and Twitter are expected
to be called into Parliament and grilled on whether they are doing enough to
stop the trend.
The Commons Culture Committee is discussing launching the
inquiry internally and hopes it can begin holding sessions by late spring or
early summer.
Damian Collins, the Tory chairman of the committee, told
the Telegraph he fears “malicious” fake news is especially damaging around
elections.
He suggested social media platforms should be obliged to
ensure such content is not shared widely in the same way they have to clamp
down on piracy.
It emerged on Saturday that ministers have asked to talk
about the issue with figures from News Media Association, a body which
represents national, regional and local news media organisations.
Matt Hancock, the digital and culture minister, is
expected to hold a round-table discussion on the topic amid growing concern
about fake news in the industry.
It came to prominence during the US election campaign
when reports about Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton went viral online, only
later to be proved false.
Critics warned the pieces were often being produced by
companies looking to make money through online clicks or political campaigners
seeking to damage a candidate.
There are now calls for internet giants like Facebook and
Twitter to do more to stop fake news circulating amid concerns it influenced
how some people voted in the US election.
This newspaper has learnt that concerns have reached such
heights in Britain that an influential cross-party committee is on the brink of
announcing a formal inquiry.
Mr Collins said: “Some fake news is presented to look
like real news coming from real news websites. It can be difficult to
distinguish between them.
“The concern is a fake story can get out and be
distributed on the internet and become the received wisdom before the truth can
get out. The truth is always trying to catch up with a fake news story.”
He said that “clearly” some fake news is being
distributed “maliciously” and questioned whether social media companies were
doing enough to combat this.
“What’s interesting is we've accepted that search engines
have a responsibility to combat piracy on their websites,” Mr Collins said.
“In a similar way, I think social media [companies] have
a responsibility to ensure their platforms are not being used to spread
malicious content.
“Particularly around elections there is a responsibility
to democracy as well to ensure their platforms aren’t being perverted to
support the distribution of fake and malicious news.”
Mr Trump has recently attacked as “fake news” reports by
CNN and Buzzfeeddiscussing an unverified intelligence dossier about his links
to Russia which contained sordid allegations.
Michael Dugher, the Labour MP and former shadow culture
secretary, has already launched an inquiry for his party into how “false” news
stories circulate online.
He recently wrote: “The only people who have anything to
fear from this inquiry are those who are deliberately spreading stories they
know to be untrue or those who are turning a blind eye to it.
“We have a responsibility to stand up for good journalism
everywhere. It is an essential part of our free speech and our democracy.”
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