Facebook can’t behave like ‘digital gangster’, says UK report

Companies like Facebook should not be allowed to behave like ‘digital gangsters’ in the online world, considering themselves to be ahead of and beyond the law, a hard-hitting report on ‘fake news’ by an influential committee of UK parliament said on Monday.

The final report on ‘Disinformation and “Fake News”’ by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee of parliament examined leading lights in major online companies, including Cambridge Analytica that was involved in some elections and campaigns in India.

Facebook, it says, intentionally and knowingly violated both data privacy and anti-competition laws, and makes a number of recommendations, including a compulsory code of ethics for tech companies overseen by independent regulator.