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UK: Watchdog calls for social media to be liable for content

By  |  December 13, 2017

The Committee on Standards in Public Life urged ministers to legislate to shift liability for illegal content on to social media and other internet companies to tackle an “intensely hostile online environment.”

Facebook, Twitter and Google “are not simply platforms for the content that others post” because they play a role in shaping what users see, and so “must take more responsibility for illegal material.”

Facebook and Google take more than US$6 billion a year of the US$10 billion spent on digital advertising in the UK as well as more than 80% of all growth.

This has led news publishers to complain that they provide unfair competition by profiting from the distribution of news content without paying for it or taking any legal responsibility for it.

The move by MPs comes as Facebook has said it will no longer record its non-US revenue through Ireland in a major change to where it pays tax.

Full Content: The Guardian

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