Facebook CEO Calls For Social Media Regulation

Facebook, Inc. FB co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in an op-ed published Sunday in The Washington Post that social media companies need governments and regulators to play a "more active role."

What Happened

Facebook management takes sole responsibility for deciding what is and isn't harmful speech and how political advertising is defined, Zuckerberg wrote.

The CEO said new regulations across four areas are needed:

• Harmful content.
• Election integrity.
• Privacy.
• Data portability.

"Lawmakers often tell me we have too much power over speech, and frankly I agree," he wrote. "I've come to believe that we shouldn't make so many important decisions about speech on our own."

Why It's Important

It is impossible for all harmful content to be deleted from the internet, especially when social media users can spread content across different platforms that all have different policies, Zuckerberg said. The solution could be a third-party body that sets standards on what is considered prohibited, he said. 

What's Next

Any future rules and regulations should be built on the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Zuckerberg said.

The EU law is designed to protect people's right to decide how their information is used and allows companies to use the information for safety purposes and offer services. The GDPR is also designed to hold companies like Facebook accountable when mistakes are made.

"The rules governing the internet allowed a generation of entrepreneurs to build services that changed the world and created a lot of value in people's lives," he concluded. "It's time to update these rules to define clear responsibilities for people, companies and governments going forward."

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