If Silicon Valley won't stop fake news, we will

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Brian Randell <brian.randell () newcastle ac uk>
> Date: August 3, 2018 at 5:34:14 AM GMT+9
> To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
> Cc: Brian Randell <brian.randell () newcastle ac uk>
> Subject: If Silicon Valley won't stop fake news, we will
>
> Hi Dave:
>
> Here is a follow-up opinion piece in the Guardian from the Chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport 
> SelectCommittee of the House of Common, whose excellent report you sent out to IP from me a couple of days ago. You 
> might also want this for IP.
>
> Cheers
>
> Brian
>
> ———
>
> > If Silicon Valley won't stop fake news, we will
> > Damian Collins
>
> > Around the world, people’s data is being gathered and used in order to micro-target them with a relentless stream of 
> > promoted content. Governments and elected representatives are sitting up and taking notice. Is that “anti-tech”? 
> > That would be a bit like saying that governments are “anti-car” for requiring people to wear seatbelts.
> >
> > The mounting evidence of how easily user data can be scraped from social media sites, and then the lack of oversight 
> > of what happens to it, is rightly a cause for concern. When we hear that the Russians have been using Facebook 
> > custom audience tools to target adverts that have illegally sought to interfere in the elections of other countries, 
> > we have to take notice, particularly when the company itself initially failed to spot it. 
> >
> > We live in a world where people increasingly see social media not just as a gateway to the internet, but as a main 
> > source of news. That’s why we have to look at the threat that campaigns of disinformation, which spread through 
> > websites like Facebook and Twitter, pose to our democracy.
> >
> > The recommendations made in the recent report of the House of Commons digital, culture, media and sport select 
> > committee, which has considered all of these issues, create a new framework for establishing requirements of greater 
> > responsibility from tech companies.
> >
> > The inevitable tension that policy ideas like these create was described by the former director of BBC News, James 
> > Harding, in his Hugh Cudlipp lecture in March, as part of a battle between Silicon Valley (representing the tech 
> > industries) and Capitol Hill (representing the politicians). What we are suggesting from the perspective of the UK, 
> > is that if the Valley won’t come to the Hill, the Hill is going to have to come to the Valley.
> >
> > We believe that by creating new legal liabilities for social media companies to act against known sources of harmful 
> > and misleading content, it is more likely that they will do so. When content breaches the community guidelines of 
> > social media sites, it should be taken down – but often it’s not, even when referred back to the company by users. 
> >
> > We also believe that more could be achieved through artificial intelligence to proactively identify harmful content. 
> > It would not be right for tech companies to be asked to become the arbiters of political opinion expressed on social 
> > media – that would clearly be an infringement of free speech. However, they should make sure that people who receive 
> > targeted political messages understand who is sending it to them, and which country they are based in. I am pleased 
> > to see that this is one area where Facebook in particular is making progress. 
> > <snip>
>
> Full story at:  
> https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/01/big-tech-control-politics-fake-news-data-facebook-ads-elections
>
>
>
>  
> —
>
> School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU
> EMAIL = Brian.Randell () ncl ac uk   PHONE = +44 191 208 7923
> URL = http://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/people/profile/brianrandell.html



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