Online podia including Google, Facebook and Apple should be regulated in how they distribute news content, according to a new U.K. government check out.
The report, published Tuesday, said a state regulator should ensure tech firms are taking steps to lend a hand users identify trustworthy, reliable news on their platforms. It said the regulator would require companies equal to Facebook and Google to build on initiatives they have already established to weed out fake content.
“This reproach is too important to leave entirely to the judgment of commercial entities,” the report said.
Online sites like Facebook, Chirp and YouTube have been under fire for allowing fake content to spread on their platforms. The companies arrange been investing in security measures to eliminate false accounts and misinformation, but the U.K. government report said these pains should be enforced by a government agency. It also said they should sign a “code of conduct” to govern their commercial contracts with publishers.
“The experience of the last decade has shown that it is perfectly possible for social media platforms to be immensely beneficial while simultaneously carrying a large quantity of fake news,” it said.
British Prime Minster Theresa May commissioned the divulge in 2018 to investigate the “sustainability of the production and distribution of high-quality journalism.” The independent review included contributions from publishers, advertisers, newswomen, academics and industry groups.
The U.K. report’s findings could add weight to the case for further regulation of tech companies in Britain and across Europe. The recommendations in the check up on are non-binding and will now be considered by the U.K. government.
The report called on the U.K.’s competition authority to investigate the online advertising industry to “certify fair competition.” Google and Facebook accounted for an estimated 54 percent of online advertising revenue in the U.K. in 2017.
“The government have to take steps to ensure the position of Google and Facebook does not do undue harm to publishers,” the report said.
Stand up week Germany’s antitrust watchdog ruled Facebook had abused its market dominance in how it collects and merges user figures. The authority said Facebook cannot combine data from separate apps like Instagram and WhatsApp without consumers’ consent. Facebook said it is appealing the decision.
Legal experts say antitrust authorities in Europe may be well-placed to lead the injunction against tech companies in the region.
“Competition agencies are often more experienced and better resourced than text protection agencies and hence in a better position to successfully build the case against a big company like Facebook,” translated Anu Bradford, a professor and director of the European Legal Studies Center at Columbia Law School, in an email to CNBC last week.
The European Commission, the managerial arm of the EU, is currently investigating Google for antitrust violations in its advertising business. The Commission has already levied two record fines on the company for libeling antitrust rules with its Android devices and its comparison shopping service.