Facebook’s head of global spin and technology, Nick Clegg, who is also UK’s Former Deputy Prime Minister, will give a speech sometime later. In this speech, he will tell about Facebook’s plan to form an “independent exterior oversight board”. It will watch over the content of the users. Due to this, Facebook won’t be the sole entity that makes choices for people.
In his speech in Berlin, Clegg will talk about the shortcomings of Facebook. It would be awkward if he goes on stage and claims that Facebook is flawless, and it doesn’t have any shortcomings.
“I don’t think that it’s the right of private companies to set certain rules. This is as important as the technology that serves society. Eventually, we know that setting rules are something that big corporations or tech organizations can’t do on their own.” Clegg said in a statement to BBC Radio 4, “I want to see companies, like Facebook, play an extremely mature role in this regard.”
The Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg initially gave this idea of making an oversight board for managing content. However, it raises questions like, how would such a board work impartially, when it is operating under Facebook? Or, who will select the different board members of this governing body?
Sadly, the host didn’t ask these questions from Clegg, during the BBC Radio Four interview. However, the interviewer did ask whether Facebook would give all the management of some difficult decisions to the oversight board. Clegg replied, “That is exactly what I mean. At the end of the day, this board will make the difficult decision whether certain content should remain on the site or it should be taken down.”
“We will also let this oversight board handle some really difficult and pivotal issues. Facebook will also consult the board, like what to do in a certain situation. And whatever the board says, Facebook will act on it.”
Damian Collins, who is the chairperson of the UK parliamentary board, for investigating Facebook by UK’s competition and privacy regulators, says that Facebook is just trying to dodge the bullet of responsibility.
Collins commented on the oversight board and said, “By making an oversight board, they are just trying to pass the responsibility. They are telling the Governments that we will follow your rules. Other than that, don’t expect us to follow any other judgment. We need a higher level of regulation. We will need an investigating regulator who will investigate Facebook and find out its shortcomings. External bodies should also do it.”
Clegg overlooked the complex nature of Facebook in the BBC interview. Instead, he said that Facebook’s business should have the same regulations as any other communication medium. Clegg argued, “People commit crimes through telephones and emails. This shows that each medium has a good aspect and a bad one. Our main job while controlling Facebook is to minimize the bad side and maximize the good side.”
The decision by Facebook to make an independent oversight board to overlook its affairs has been criticized widely. UK Labour Party Deputy Leader, Tom Watson was shocked that Facebook hired a Former Deputy PM of UK to understand Europe.
Listening to Nick Clegg on the @BBCr4today answer for the dystopian world of Facebook – from live-streaming massacres to enabling suicides. Zuckerberg hired a former deputy PM so he could “understand Europe.” His proposed remedy? An oversight committee. Pull the other one.
— Tom Watson (@tom_watson) June 24, 2019
Clegg also said that he welcomed Facebook’s new rules related to privacy and elections. He also commented on the ongoing tech war between China and America, “There is an ongoing tech war between China and America. Nobody worries in China about how data is used. There is no data protection system or privacy legislation. I am not saying that we should follow China, but we should follow our own Western style to use data in new ways.”
“If we don’t do this quickly, we would be dominated by a County who has different values than anywhere else in the world.”
Clegg also gave his thoughts about Russia meddling with the 2016 US Presidential Elections. He said that there is evidence of suspicious Facebook activity from Russia. However, these things are extremely difficult to investigate.
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