Facebook CEO calls on governments to reinforce social media regulation

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that governments should play a more active role in regulating the internet , urging more countries to adopt versions of sweeping European rules aimed at safeguarding user privacy.

“I believe we need a more active role for governments and regulators. By updating the rules for the internet, we can preserve what’s best about it — the freedom for people to express themselves and for entrepreneurs to build new things — while also protecting society from broader harms,” Zuckerberg wrote in an article on Saturday in ‘The Washington Post’ .

The Facebook chief said that new regulation in four areas, including harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability, was needed.

“It’s impossible to remove all harmful content from the internet, but when people use dozens of different sharing services- all with their own policies and processes – we need a more standardized approach,” Zuckerberg emphasised.

Earlier this week, Facebook announced a ban on “praise, support and representation of white nationalism and white separatism,” which the social network company said would be enforced next week.

The statement came after Facebook live-streaming was used during the March 15 attacks on two mosques in New Zealand, which killed 50 people.

In recent times, Facebook has been under scrutiny for spreading misinformation and inadequately policing content.