The UK faces a “democratic crisis” with voters being targeted with “pernicious views” and data being manipulated, a parliamentary committee is set to warn. The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee has been investigating disinformation and fake news following the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. In its first report, MPs will suggest social media companies should face tougher regulation or a new tax. It also proposes measures to combat election interference. The MPs’ report comes after months of investigating the impact of technology giants and how people are affected by the rise in fake news on social media. It also probed whether Russia had a role in influencing voters in the EU referendum. The committee’s report was due to be officially published on Sunday. But a copy was leaked on Friday by Dominic Cummings, the director of the official Brexit campaign group Vote Leave, who published it on his own blog. Mr Cummings was asked and officially summoned to take part in the inquiry – to respond to allegations made against the Vote Leave campaign – but he refused. Mr Cummings called the report “fake news”. According to the leaked report, MPs say “our democracy is at risk and now is the time to act”. The committee highlights the “relentless targeting of hyper-partisan views, which play to the fears and prejudices of people, in order to influence their voting plans”, which the MPs say is a threat to democracy. The report, when it is published officially, is expected to be very critical of Facebook, which has been under increased scrutiny following the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. “Facebook has hampered our efforts to get information about their company throughout this inquiry. It is as if it thinks that the problem will go away if it does not share information about the problem, and reacts only when it is pressed,” it will say. “It provided witnesses who have been unwilling or unable to give full answers to the committee’s questions.” And the report will repeat its call for Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg to give evidence. [caption id="attachment_93209" align="aligncenter" width="624"] The committee said they were unsatisfied with evidence by Mr Zuckerberg’s chief technology officer[/caption] The committee’s report will also say it had received “disturbing evidence” – some of which it had not published – of hacking, disinformation and voter suppression in elections since 2010. “We urge the government to ensure that the National Crime Agency thoroughly investigates these allegations.”
What will the committee recommend?
Social media sites should be held responsible for ‘harmful’ content on their services Companies such as Facebook and YouTube have repeatedly said they are just a “platform”, rather than a “publisher”. They have argued that they are not responsible for the content people post on their services. The committee’s report is expected to say “social media companies cannot hide behind the claim of being merely a ‘platform'”. A “new category of tech company” should be created which is “not necessarily a platform or a publisher” but something in between, the committee will suggest, This should establish “clear legal liability for the tech companies to act against harmful and illegal content on their platforms”. The rules on political campaigns should be made fit for the digital age The committee will say that electoral law needs to be “updated to reflect changes in campaigning techniques”. [caption id="attachment_93210" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Vote Leave’s Facebook advertisements have been released[/caption] It will suggest:- creating a public register for political advertising so that anybody can see what messages are being distributed
- online political advertisements should have a digital imprint stating who was responsible, as is required with printed leaflets and advertisements
- social media sites should be held responsible for interference in elections by malicious actors
- electoral fraud fines should be increased from a maximum of £20,000 to a percentage of an organisations’ annual turnover