Britain should levy social media firms to fund efforts at stemming a "fake news" crisis threatening the fabric of democracy, a leaked report by lawmakers has said. It recommends using the cash to finance school classes on "digital literacy", teach public awareness around the issue and better fund data watchdog the Information Commissioners Office.
The proposal is one of many made in the House of Commons committee paper as it rounds on tech giants including Facebook, Twitter and Google.
Such firms act "irresponsibly" over data collection, "influencing what we see" in an unregulated social media landscape akin to the "wild west", the report claims.
"We are facing nothing less than a crisis in our democracy - based on the systematic manipulation of data to support the relentless targeting of citizens, without their consent, by campaigns of disinformation and messages of hate," said Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee chairman Damian Collins.
"Throughout our inquiry these companies have tried to frustrate scrutiny and obfuscated in their answers."
The paper outlines recommendations for audits of social media security mechanisms and for the introduction of a new category of tech company that bridges the gap between platform and publisher.
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