Disinformation and ‘fake news’ - Report of the House of Commons DCMS Committee

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

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Brian Randell <brian.randell () newcastle ac uk>
> Date: February 18, 2019 at 1:05:41 PM EST
> To: "farber () gmail com" <farber () gmail com>
> Cc: Brian Randell <brian.randell () newcastle ac uk>
> Subject: Disinformation and ‘fake news’ - Report of the House of Commons DCMS Committee
>
> Hi Dave:
>
> For IP if you wish. A big story here in the UK today is the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport 
> Committee’s report on Disinformation and ‘fake news’ - see for example: 
>
>     https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/18/facebook-regulation-fake-news-mps-deepfake
>     https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-47255380
>     https://www.itv.com/news/2019-02-18/social-media-ethics-and-regulation-all-you-need-to-know/
> and
>     https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/02/17/facebook-has-behaved-like-digital-gangster-say-mps-accuse-firms/
>
> However these articles tend not to provide a link to the actual 109-page report - which in fact is online at
>
>     https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmcumeds/1791/1791.pdf 
>
> Here is the full text of its Summary:
>
> > This is the Final Report in an inquiry on disinformation that has spanned over 18 months, covering individuals’ 
> > rights over their privacy, how their political choices might be affected and influenced by online information, and 
> > interference in political elections both in this country and across the world—carried out by malign forces intent on 
> > causing disruption and confusion.
> >  
> > We have used the powers of the Committee system, by ordering people to give evidence and by obtaining documents 
> > sealed in another country’s legal system. We invited democratically-elected representatives from eight countries to 
> > join our Committee  in the UK to create an ‘International Grand Committee’, the  first of its kind, to promote 
> > further cross-border co-operation in tackling the spread of disinformation, and its pernicious ability to distort, 
> > to disrupt, and to destabilise.  Throughout this inquiry we have benefitted from working with other parliaments.  
> > This is continuing, with further sessions planned in 2019. This has highlighted a worldwide appetite for action to 
> > address issues similar to those that we have identifed in other jurisdictions.
> >
> > This is the Final Report in our inquiry, but it will not be the final word. We have always experienced propaganda 
> > and politically-aligned bias, which purports to be news, but this activity has taken on new forms and has been 
> > hugely magnified by information technology and the ubiquity of social media. In this environment, people are able to 
> > accept and give credence to information that reinforces their views, no matter how distorted or inaccurate, while 
> > dismissing content with which they do not agree as ‘fake news’.  This has a polarising effect and reduces the common 
> > ground on which reasoned debate, based on objective facts, can take place. Much has been said about the coarsening 
> > of public debate, but when these factors are brought to bear directly in election campaigns then the very fabric of 
> > our democracy is threatened.
> >
> > This situation is unlikely to change. What does need to change is the enforcement of greater transparency in the 
> > digital sphere, to ensure that we know the source of what we are reading, who has paid for it and why the 
> > information has been sent to us. We need to understand how the big tech companies work and what happens to our data. 
> > Facebook operates by monitoring both users and non-users, tracking their activity and retaining personal data. 
> > Facebook makes its money by selling access to users’ data through its advertising tools. It further increases its 
> > value by entering into comprehensive reciprocal data-sharing arrangements with major app developers who run their 
> > businesses through the Facebook platform.
> >
> > Meanwhile, among the countless innocuous postings of celebrations and holiday snaps, some malicious forces use 
> > Facebook to threaten and harass others, to publish revenge porn, to disseminate hate speech and propaganda of all 
> > kinds, and to influence elections and democratic processes — much of which Facebook, and other social media 
> > companies, are either unable or unwilling to prevent. We need to apply widely-accepted democratic principles to 
> > ensure their application in the digital age.
> >
> > The big tech companies must not be allowed to expand exponentially, without constraint or proper regulatory 
> > oversight. But only governments and the law are powerful enough to contain them. The legislative tools already 
> > exist. They must now be applied to digital activity, using tools such as privacy laws, data protection legislation, 
> > antitrust and competition law. If companies become monopolies they can be broken up, in whatever sector. Facebook’s 
> > handling of personal data, and its use for political campaigns, are prime and legitimate areas for inspection by 
> > regulators, and it should not be able to evade all editorial responsibility for the content shared by its users 
> > across its platforms.
> >
> > In a democracy, we need to experience a plurality of voices and, critically, to have the skills, experience and 
> > knowledge to gauge the veracity of those voices. While the Internet has brought many freedoms across the world and 
> > an unprecedented ability to communicate, it also carries the insidious ability to distort, to mislead and to produce 
> > hatred and instability. It functions on a scale and at a speed that is unprecedented in human history. One of the 
> > witnesses at our inquiry, Tristan Harris, from the US-based Center for Humane Technology, describes the current use 
> > of technology as “hijacking our minds and society”. We must use technology, instead, to free our minds and use 
> > regulation to restore democratic accountability. We must make sure that people stay in charge of the machines.
>
>
> Cheers
>
> Brian
>
> —
>
> School of Computing, Newcastle University, 1 Science Square, 
> Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 5TG
> 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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