As social media firms rake in profit spreading fake news, UK is left counting cost with chaos & terrified communities
LAST week, when sickening incidents of rioting first broke out in the UK, Sir Keir Starmer warned social media companies not to allow their platforms to be used to incite violence.
The Prime Minister spoke directly to the billionaire owners of Facebook, X, Snapchat and others, saying: “Violent disorder clearly whipped up online: that is a crime.
“It’s happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere.”
What has happened to stop the peddling of hate since then?
Absolutely nothing. If anything, it’s got much worse — even as the riots have spread alarmingly, and at huge cost to communities across the country.
Indeed, it’s clear from their lack of action that social media giants couldn’t care less about the PM’s warnings.
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Why would they?
For years successive Governments have promised crackdowns but done precious little to curb its worst excesses.
And so we have seen dangerous disinformation trigger and then continue to fuel the riots, starting with the fabricated claims that an illegal migrant committed the tragic Southport murders of three young girls.
In contrast, traditional media remains heavily regulated, rightly abiding by strict legal rules around the reporting of crime and disorder.
Editors risk going to prison if they get it wrong.
Imagine the fury if a newspaper or its website had spent days falsely claiming — as was hugely widely shared on Facebook and X — that Somali migrants had murdered dog-walker Anita Rose?
The publication would face demands to be shut down. Heads would roll.
In contrast, the social media bosses take no responsibility for the dangerous content they circulate to millions.
Facebook has been repeatedly shown to stoke social unrest; from race riots in France, to deadly violence in India and the January 6 Capitol Hill uprising in the US in 2021.
Owner Mark Zuckerberg (net worth £134billion) and his chief apologist Nick Clegg (reported salary £15million) simply shrug all this off as “untrue”.
Yet disinformation — for vast profit — is now a part of their lucrative business model and key to their unchecked power.
Last night police chiefs mobilised an army of 6,000 cops as more rioting, plotted and planned on social media, was expected across the country.
If Sir Keir is serious about getting a grip of this vital issue — and really means to end the peddling of lies and hate — then we need to hear some proper ideas.
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The days of letting Facebook and friends behave like publishers, but have none of the accompanying responsibilities, must end.
It’s time to finally clean up the social media sewer.
