MPs have welcomed news that the government is considering personally fining social media executives deemed to have failed to meet their duty of care to users, with one calling the decision a “massive step forward in making companies actually liable” for activity on their platforms.
The Guardian revealed on Thursday that the online harms white paper, due to be published on Monday, will call for the creation of a regulator with the power to draw up codes of conduct for social media firms. It also proposes serious punishments for companies that breach the codes and in doing so fail to meet their duty of care.
“It’s not good enough to allow people like Mark Zuckerberg to set the rules for the internet,” said Damian Collins, the chair of the Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee, who headed an inquiry into fake news and disinformation last year.
[…]
Source: Plan to crack down on social media firms is ‘massive step’, say MPs | Media | The Guardian