Facebook has several ideas on how the internet should be regulated. More specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has laid out four ways this could be done.
In a new editorial, Zuckerberg offered approaches to internet regulation that he says could be applied in a global scale.
Internet Regulation By Mark Zuckerberg
First off, he said that he believes governments should provide "baselines" for online content and impose filtering to lessen the chances of vile content from ever reaching public platforms. Facebook shouldn't meddle with decisions related to speech just on its own, said Zuckerberg, which is why the company is building an independent body so people "can appeal our decisions." It's also working with governments to ensure the effectivity of its content review systems.
Political Ads And GDPR
Zuckerberg also said he wants to push for regulations that set "common standards" for verifying agents behind political ads and said there should be a "globally harmonized framework" for data privacy similar to GDPR by the European Union to improve data protection without resulting in a "fractured" internet.
Data Portability
Finally, Zuckerberg said regulation should ensure the principle of data portability, or the act of being able to freely move one data from one service to another easily. This, he said, lends people a choice and also pushes developers to innovate and engage in fair competition. This is important for the internet and for creating services people want, according to Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg concluded his post by saying he believes Facebook has a responsibility to aid in addressing these issues and that he's "looking forward" to meeting with lawmakers around the world to talk about them.
"We should have a broader debate about what we want as a society and how regulation can help. These four areas are important, but, of course, there's more to discuss."
These statements are significant, coming from a CEO who, in recent, months has shown commitment to prioritizing user privacy. However, Zuckerberg merely laid down what should be done and not what it plans to do. Even if there comes a point when the company is ready to apply these principles, there's no assurance countries will cooperate.
Even still, by sharing his ideas, Zuckerberg is starting a discussion, which is an important element toward change.
