Facebook grilled by UK lawmakers over online safety rules; asked to submit research data

The UK lawmakers on Thursday intensely questioned the representative of Facebook, over the online security handling by the social media tech giants. The grilling comes as a part of the European country's move to oversee the power of social media companies, as reported by the Associated Press. The 543Thursday session will be followed by a round of questioning representatives from Tik Tok, Google and Twitter by members of the parliamentary committee scrutinising the British government's draft online safety bill.

Recently, the UK and US governments have dived into interrogation sessions with researchers, journalists, tech executives and experts in the field to ensure tougher social media safety protocols, especially for young children. The British government, however, seems to be further along by grilling tech giant representatives in order to improve the final version of the online safety bill, AP reported.

Facebook has no interest in providing "negative experience"

According to AP, Facebook head of global safety, Antigone Davis on Thursday defended the social security measures of the company by asserting that the "company is filled with experts" working together to make decisions. She also added that the company has "no interest" in people experiencing negative or unsafe environments on social media platforms. She also added that Facebook is supportive of the UK's safety-oriented legislation and is interested in regulation that gives publicly elected officials the ability to hold the company accountable.

"We have no business interest, no business interest at all, in providing people with a negative or unsafe experience," said Antigone Davis, Global security head of Facebook, as per AP.

Meanwhile, Damian Collins, who heads the social media safety scrutiny committee along with other lawmakers asked Facebook to present independent research by the company to ascertain the harms rendered in using the application. To which, Facebook retorted saying that it has privacy concerns about how the data could be used. "Where does the buck stop? It is not for Facebook to set parameters around the research," Collins said on Thursday, as per AP.

UK online safety bill

The UK online safety legislation is a proposed act intended to bolster internet security and safety for users. The draft is established to form a new regulatory framework to tackle harmful online content. It covers mainly firms that allow users to upload content online and interact with one another.

Earlier this week, the US Senate panel questioned Youtube, TikTok and Snapchat to gather data on online safety while using the applications. As per AP, the companies provided "little firm commitment" to the US online safety legislation. A report, as analysed by the Associated Press, provided by the US Securities Exchange Commission, showed that Facebook had numerous times priortised profits over safety.

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