Social Media Misinformation: UK Parliament Demands Tech Accountability

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The UK Science, Innovation and Technology Committee highlights the severe real-world dangers of online misinformation, citing the 2024 Southport riots as a stark example. The existing Online Safety Act 2023 is deemed outdated, failing to address new threats like generative AI and regulating content over principles. The Committee proposes five crucial principles for effective online safety: public safety, free and safe expression, responsibility, user control, and transparency. They urge the Government to implement these recommendations, compelling platforms to act against harmful content and stressing that without action, further crises are inevitable.

Key Takeaways

• Online misinformation, amplified by algorithms, caused real-world violence, like the 2024 Southport riots targeting communities.
• The Online Safety Act 2023 is "out of date", failing to address generative AI or regulate based on principles, and is seen as insufficient.
• Social media companies' advertisement-based business models prioritise engaging content over authenticity, frequently leading to the promotion of harmful material.
• The Committee advocates for five key principles for online safety regulation: public safety, free and safe expression, platform and user responsibility, user control over data, and transparency of algorithms.
• Recommendations include compelling platforms to demote fact-checked misinformation, labelling all AI-generated content, and enforcing accountability with clear standards and penalties.
• Young people are especially vulnerable to harmful online content and radicalisation due to their cognitive development.

Definitions:

• Generative AI: Advanced artificial intelligence technologies (like ChatGPT, deep fakes, or synthetic misinformation) capable of creating realistic content, posing significant and increasing risks for future misinformation crises.

Source: Social Media: Misinformation and Algorithms
Volume 771: debated on Thursday 17 July

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No outside chatter: source material only taken from Hansard and the Parliament UK website.

Contains Parliamentary information repurposed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0....