Brexit is something that is going to come under further scrutiny after Leave.EU’s fine and the further investigation into Vote Leave, then there is the whole issue of Cambridge Analytica to consider. But what could this mean for Brexit itself? Presumably not all that much but it does put pressure on the government to get the bets deal possible because otherwise people can legitimately question the legitimacy of the vote itself.
Since the rise of social media and the creation of the internet beforehand, the question of privacy and data has always been a difficult one to answer and most governments still have enacted legislation that suitably regulates the flow of data from companies like Facebook.
Social media regulation?
The need for regulation within this area is rising but it also can’t infringe on people’s privacy and it shouldn’t remove any freedoms from the internet. The danger of companies like Facebook policing themselves has seen them removing content that isn’t fake or dangerous but leaving a lot of content online that are both fake and dangerous. There are multiple accounts of factually correct pages or groups being shut down because they may have criticised Israel or something else that the US government deem inappropriate but leave ones that perpetuate dangerous myths and falsehoods.
If Facebook cannot police itself properly when it comes to news and the promotion of facts, how can they and other companies that are data driven be trusted to police themselves over the misuse of data? The modern world of data-driven social media needs updated legislation and regulations within the infrastructure of our political system.
