Britain leads the way for reining in Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Tuesday
February 07, 2023

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 07, 2023
Britain leads the way for reining in Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

Thoughts

Parmy Olson; Bloomberg
03 November, 2021, 10:30 am
Last modified: 03 November, 2021, 02:51 pm

Related News

  • Tesla's Elon Musk found not liable in trial over 2018 'funding secured' tweets
  • 'How is body shaming funny?' - Twitter blasts Naseem Shah for 'mocking' Azam Khan after heated moment in BPL
  • Twitter says users will be able to appeal account suspension
  • Elon Musk now 'Mr. Tweet' on Twitter
  • Meta says Trump to be allowed back on Facebook, Instagram

Britain leads the way for reining in Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

The UK is wrapping up one of the world’s most promising new laws for curbing social media harms

Parmy Olson; Bloomberg
03 November, 2021, 10:30 am
Last modified: 03 November, 2021, 02:51 pm
Parmy Olson. Illustration: TBS
Parmy Olson. Illustration: TBS

Facebook Inc. managed to distance itself from the most damning document leak in its history by renaming itself Meta Platforms Inc. last week, but that doesn't mean it won't face greater regulatory scrutiny around the world. Where will it get the most heat? My bet is the UK

After blundering on Brexit, the UK is moving much more effectively on a law aimed at tackling the same social media harms that were outlined by whistle-blower Frances Haugen. The Online Safety Bill tackles a wider range of issues than the European Union's similar proposals, and it will likely come into force earlier, potentially next year.

The law cleverly threads the needle between human welfare and free speech by treating social media companies as public environments (not publishers), and with the right final touches, it could be a template for other governments to follow.  

In essence, social media companies will be required to carry out regular risk assessments on the nature of harmful content on their platforms, and to take action on those harms as well as on any prevalent illegal content. Communications regulator Ofcom will assess the companies on those outcomes. If they don't comply, the companies face multibillion-dollar fines, and potentially criminal charges for executives.

In other words, social media companies will have to provide much of the kind of information that Haugen leaked: internal research. That could, for instance, be data showing that women in certain parts of the UK are more liable to read Covid misinformation, or that certain teens are "hyper-exposed" to self-harming content. Ofcom would then tell the social media firm to tweak its algorithms to change those statistics, or be punished.  

Facebook Inc, facing intense scrutiny over its business practices, has rebranded the company with a new name ‘Meta’, that focuses on the metaverse, according to The Verge. Photo: Bloomberg
Facebook Inc, facing intense scrutiny over its business practices, has rebranded the company with a new name ‘Meta’, that focuses on the metaverse, according to The Verge. Photo: Bloomberg

In effect, social media will become regulated like a hazard industry. Haugen praised the UK's bill as a "world-leading" approach to regulating social platforms.

The bill has its critics, particularly on free speech. It risks forcing Facebook and other social media platforms like Twitter Inc. and Alphabet's YouTube to "over-remove" content, according to Big Brother Watch, a privacy campaign group in the UK But so do efforts to reform free speech laws in the US, an issue over which there is little consensus. The UK has the benefit of moving quickly and with an existing regulatory agency to test the new rules and suggest changes where necessary.    

The real weak link in this promising law is the regulator and its capabilities. The bill, as it stands, allows social media companies to set their own standards for defining a risk assessment, not Ofcom. That could make it easier to worm out of diligent reporting. As Haugen noted in her testimony, "Facebook is good at dancing with data."

It will also be difficult for Ofcom, which was designed to regulate telephone companies and TV channels, to pivot to the vast, online world and its difficult-to-measure impacts on human rights.

But it helps that the regulator will be assessing reports provided by the tech companies, and might not necessarily have to hire an army of computer scientists to investigate their algorithms. Will Perrin, a former civil servant who helped set up Ofcom and whose research sparked the upcoming law, tells me that Ofcom has plenty of experience and ability to extract the information it needs from companies.

The current law is fuelled by painful experiences. British schoolgirl Molly Russell died by suicide in 2017 after viewing self-harm images on Facebook's Instagram, and her father has become a powerful public advocate for regulation of these platforms. On Tuesday, while questioning Haugen, politicians working on the new law also brought up the threats and abuse they'd received on social media, as well as the recent killing of another MP, Sir David Amess.

The bill is based on a storied and well-known "duty of care" principle at the heart of British health and safety law. This obligation to protect people stems back to 1928, when a woman named Mary Donoghue bought a bottle of ginger beer in Paisley, Scotland and found a dead snail inside, later falling ill. She sued the manufacturer and won when her case went up to the House of Lords. Lord Atkin of Aberdovey, who presided over the case, said in his judgment, "The rule that you are to love your neighbour becomes in law 'You must not injure your neighbour.'"

An age-old principle is now set to be a cornerstone for regulating social media. The UK could pioneer this effort in the same way the EU pioneered wider privacy standards with its GDPR law. Let's hope it is not a missed opportunity.    


Disclaimer: This article first appeared on Bloomberg, and is published by special syndication arrangement.

Top News

Britain / Facebook / Twitter / Youtube

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • A general view shows damaged and collapsed buildings after an earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey February 6, 2023. Ihlas News Agency (IHA) via REUTERS
    Deaths exceed 3,700 as catastrophic quakes ravage Turkey, Syria
  • 30% cos see double-digit growth even in hard times
    30% cos see double-digit growth even in hard times
  • Govt borrowing from commercial banks surges
    Govt borrowing from commercial banks surges

MOST VIEWED

  • Sketch: TBS
    Time for the developed world to rein in the debt crisis
  • Illustration: TBS
    The supply chain crisis opens door to resilience
  • Illustration: TBS
    Preparing for the future of AI in the job market: How Bangladesh can thrive in a tech-driven world
  • Sheikh Rahman/International Relations Expert
    Is Bangladesh setting sail in Westerly Winds?
  • Sketch: TBS
    Export diversification: Current scenario and possibilities 
  • Sketch: TBS
    Zuckerberg’s new focus pulls Meta back from the brink

Related News

  • Tesla's Elon Musk found not liable in trial over 2018 'funding secured' tweets
  • 'How is body shaming funny?' - Twitter blasts Naseem Shah for 'mocking' Azam Khan after heated moment in BPL
  • Twitter says users will be able to appeal account suspension
  • Elon Musk now 'Mr. Tweet' on Twitter
  • Meta says Trump to be allowed back on Facebook, Instagram

Features

Photo: Collected

Get your partner a lovely present this Valentine's Day

22h | Brands
Pottery Wheel Craft Kit: A creative outlet for little hands

Pottery Wheel Craft Kit: A creative outlet for little hands

21h | Brands
Say it with Colours

Say it with Colours

1d | Mode
Photo: Courtesy

From 'Made in Bangladesh' to 'Designed in Bangladesh'

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Who will survive? Adani or Hindenburg?

Who will survive? Adani or Hindenburg?

13h | TBS Stories
James Gunn’s 8-10-year plan for the DC Universe

James Gunn’s 8-10-year plan for the DC Universe

13h | TBS Entertainment
LC issues lead to severe shortage of surgical equipment

LC issues lead to severe shortage of surgical equipment

16h | TBS Insight
Stage plays are going on in the digital age

Stage plays are going on in the digital age

21h | TBS Stories

Most Read

1
Leepu realised his love for cars from a young age and for the last 40 years, he has transformed, designed and customised hundreds of cars. Photo: Collected
Panorama

'I am not crazy about cars anymore': Nizamuddin Awlia Leepu

2
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo
Economy

IMF approves $4.7 billion loan for Bangladesh, calls for ambitious reforms

3
Belal Ahmed new acting chairman of SIBL
Banking

Belal Ahmed new acting chairman of SIBL

4
Fund cut as Dhaka's fast-track transit projects on slow spending lane
Infrastructure

Fund cut as Dhaka's fast-track transit projects on slow spending lane

5
Photo: Collected
Startups

ShopUp secures $30m debt financing to boost expansion, supply chain

6
Photo: Courtesy
Panorama

From 'Made in Bangladesh' to 'Designed in Bangladesh'

EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2023
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]