Politics

Sky boss calls for powerful new watchdog to crack down on social media abuse and fake news


BRITAIN must set up a powerful new watchdog to crack down on internet abuse and fake news, Sky’s boss has demanded.

Jeremy Darroch, 57, urged ministers to act now after years of tech giants failing to regulate themselves.

 Jeremy Darroch has demanded ministers introduce their crack down on social media now, before it's too late

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Jeremy Darroch has demanded ministers introduce their crack down on social media now, before it’s too lateCredit: PA:Press Association

And he said last month’s election saw the spread of disinformation which could have had a disastrous effect on our democracy.

The CEO of Britain’s largest commercial broadcaster, Mr Darroch, wrote in The Times yesterday: “The promise of self-regulation hasn’t worked.

“We need only look back to the prolific spread of misinformation, online abuse and fake news in last month’s general election to see the damage that unregulated online platforms are doing to our society.”

He says the “time to act is now” and has written to MPs to enlist their support for an independent regulator to tackle online harms.

“If managed correctly, this is a real opportunity for an emboldened, outward-looking global Britain to show the world what good regulation and management of public policy issues can look like,” he added.

In the past Mr Darroch has urged Facebook, Google and other tech giants to take responsibility for the content posted on their platforms too.

Ministers have long-promised new laws to crack down on social media giants and make the internet safer for users.

 Damian Collins has pressed the Government to bring forward the new laws as soon as possible

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Damian Collins has pressed the Government to bring forward the new laws as soon as possibleCredit: PA:Press Association/PA Images

It is set to include a new duty of care on companies towards their users – and an independent regulator to oversee it.

Yesterday Damian Collins, the former chair of the Commons Culture Committee, called on ministers to bring forward the new laws “as soon as possible”.

Culture minister Nigel Adams told him in the Commons: “We are developing legislative proposals at place and we will bring forward a Bill as soon as possible.”

 

 





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