For all the promises from politicians to tackle online hate speech and misinformation, they continue to proliferate. Governments know they can polarise societies and harm the vulnerable, but fear a broad crackdown will see them accused of censorship.
Former Facebook employee and whistleblower Frances Haugen has provided damning testimony about the social media giant.We’ve come a long way since the early days when social media were supposed to connect the world and promote truth and mutual understanding. Today, If it’s found they’re not doing enough, they could be told to alter the algorithms. Additional powers to combat disinformation could be triggered during a crisis such as a war or a pandemic. Ads aimed at children – an important source of revenue for the companies that own Facebook and Google – will be banned. So will the targeting of ads using race, religion and other sensitive information.