{"id":14935,"date":"2019-04-30T18:15:12","date_gmt":"2019-04-30T18:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rsoftsolution.com\/blog\/social-media-firms-agree-to-work-with-uk-charities-to-set-online-harm-boundaries.html"},"modified":"2019-04-30T18:15:12","modified_gmt":"2019-04-30T18:15:12","slug":"social-media-firms-agree-to-work-with-uk-charities-to-set-online-harm-boundaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/social-media-firms-agree-to-work-with-uk-charities-to-set-online-harm-boundaries.html","title":{"rendered":"Social media firms agree to work with UK charities to set online harm boundaries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Social media giants, including Facebook <\/a>-owned Instagram, have agreed to financially contribute to UK charities to fund them making recommendations that the government hopes will speed up decisions about removing content that promotes suicide\/self-harm or eating disorders on their platforms.<\/p>\n

The development follows the latest intervention by health secretary Matt Hancock, <\/a> who met with representatives from the Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, <\/a> Google and others yesterday to discuss what they\u2019re doing to tackle a range of online harms.<\/p>\n

\u201cSocial media companies have a duty of care to people on their sites. Just because they\u2019re global doesn\u2019t mean they can be irresponsible,\u201d he said today.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must do everything we can to keep our children safe online so I\u2019m pleased to update the house that as a result of yesterday\u2019s summit, the leading global social media companies have agreed to work with experts\u2026 to speed up the identification and removal of suicide and self-harm content and create greater protections online.\u201d<\/p>\n

However he failed to get any new commitments from the companies to do more to tackle anti-vaccination misinformation \u2014 despite saying last week<\/a> that he would be heavily leaning on the tech giants to remove anti-vaccination misinformation, warning it posed a serious risk to public health.<\/p>\n

Giving an update on his latest social media moot in parliament this afternoon, Hancock said the companies had agreed to do more to address a range of online harms \u2014 while emphasizing there\u2019s more for them to do, including addressing anti-vaccination misinformation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rise of social media now makes it easier to spread lies about vaccination so there is a special responsibility on the social media companies to act,\u201d he said, noting that coverage for the measles, mumps and rubella vaccination in England decreased for the fourth year in a row last year \u2014 dropping to 91%.<\/p>\n

There has been a rise in confirmed measles cases from 259 to 966 over the same period, he added.<\/p>\n

\n

Positive outcome to yesterday\u2019s meeting with the social media companies. They\u2019re starting to get the message that acting now to protect vulnerable people online \u2013 esp children \u2013 is a moral imperative. We now need to see firm action pic.twitter.com\/3fMWnZ4sxa<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) April 30, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

With no sign of an agreement from the companies to take tougher action on anti-vaccination misinformation, Hancock was left to repeat their preferred talking point to MPs, segwaying into suggesting social media has the potential to be a \u201cgreat force for good\u201d on the vaccination front \u2014 i.e. if it \u201ccan help us to promote positive messages\u201d about the public health value of vaccines.<\/p>\n

For the two other online harm areas of focus, suicide\/self-harm content and eating disorders, suicide support charity Samaritans<\/a> and eating disorder charity Beat<\/a> were named as the two U.K. organizations that would be working with the social media platforms to make recommendations for when content should and should not be taken down.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Social media firms will] not only financially support the Samaritans to do the work but crucially Samaritans\u2019 suicide prevention experts will determine what is harmful and dangerous content, and the social media platforms committed to either remove it or prevent others from seeing it and help vulnerable people get the positive support they need,\u201d said Hancock.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis partnership marks for the first time globally a collective commitment to act, to build knowledge through research and insights \u2014 and to implement real changes that will ultimately save lives,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The Telegraph<\/a> reports that the value of the financial contribution from the social media platforms to the Samaritans for the work will be \u201chundreds of thousands\u201d of pounds. And during questions in parliament MPs pointed out the amount pledged is tiny vs the massive profits commanded by the companies. Hancock responded that it was what the Samaritans had asked for to do the work, adding: \u201cOf course I\u2019d be prepared to go and ask for more if more is needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The minister was also pressed from the opposition benches on the timeline for results from the social media companies on tackling \u201cthe harm and dangerous fake news they host\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve already seen some progress,\u201d he responded \u2014 flagging a policy change announced by Instagram and Facebook back in February<\/a>, following a public outcry after a report about a UK schoolgirl whose family said she killed herself after being exposed to graphic self-harm content on Instagram.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very important that we keep the pace up,\u201d he added, saying he\u2019ll be holding another meeting with the companies in two months to see what progress has been made.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll expect\u2026 that we\u2019ll see further action from the social media companies. That we will have made progress in the Samaritans being able to define more clearly what the boundary is between harmful content and content which isn\u2019t harmful.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn each of these areas about removing harms online the challenge is to create the right boundary in the appropriate place\u2026 so that the social media companies don\u2019t have to define what is and isn\u2019t socially acceptable. But rather we as society do.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement following the meeting with Hancock, a spokesperson for Facebook and Instagram said: \u201cWe fully support the new initiative from the government and the Samaritans, and look forward to our ongoing work with industry to find more ways to keep people safe online.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company also noted that it\u2019s been working with expert organisations, including the Samaritans, for \u201cmany years to find more ways to do that\u201d \u2014 suggesting it\u2019s quite comfortable playing the familiar political game of \u2018more of the same\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

That said, the UK government has made tackling online harms a stated policy priority \u2014 publishing a proposal for a regulatory framework intended to address a range of content risks earlier this month, when it also kicked off a 12-week public consultation.<\/p>\n

Though there\u2019s clearly a long road ahead to agree a law that\u2019s enforceable, let alone effective.<\/p>\n

\n

UK sets out safety-focused plan to regulate internet firms<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Hancock resisted providing MPs with any timeline for progress on the planned legislation \u2014 telling parliament \u201cwe want to genuinely consult widely\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t really issue of party politics. It\u2019s a matter of getting it right so that society decides on how we should govern the Internet, rather than the big Internet companies making those decisions for themselves,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The minister was also asked by the shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, to guarantee that the legislation will include provision for criminal sentences for executives for serious breaches of their duty of care. But Hancock failed to respond to the question.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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