Facebook CEO Zuckerberg wants more regulation – The Wall Street Journal

DUBLIN — For about two or three years know, we've been discussing the possibility that companies like Facebook would face much more stringent regulation (and fines) in the future. Throughout history, whenever a set of corporate interests grow "too" powerful – whether that means they have too much power to shape cities, like the railways, or too much power to shape minds, like Facebook – the rest of society has intervened. It was inevitable that the tech giants, who developed in a largely regulation-free environment and who have acted with almost no constraints for the last twenty-odd years, would eventually have to accept that they function in rules-based civilisations and they, too, have to obey rules. A series of scandals and the dramatic political developments of the last few years, including the frightening re-emergence of fascist ideology, the spread of far-right terrorist ideology, and the ongoing rise of religious terrorism, have prompted governments to start seriously asking themselves if our current communication systems are working for us. At last, even Mark Zuckerberg has admitted that rules are needed. Don't forget that this is an about-face by Zuckerberg. In 2018, when the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke, Zuckerberg was adamant that self-regulation was all that was needed. Now, in the face of ongoing and relentless scandal, he has changed his mind. Let's hope that governments are ready to step up and do their part at long last. – Felicity Duncan

Facebook Chief Mark Zuckerberg Wants More Internet Regulation

By Jeff Horwitz

(The Wall Street Journal) Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg called for global regulators to take a "more active role" in governing the internet, among his strongest remarks yet on regulation that come after more than a year of intense scrutiny over missteps at the social network.

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