TECH NEWS – Matt Hancock, a minister, talked about this subject in Andrew Marr’s show on BBC.

„If we think they [the social media companies] need to do things they are refusing to do, then we can and we must legislate. Ultimately parliament does have that sanction [to ban the sites], yes, but it’s not where I’d like to end up,” Hancock said. He added that the UK parliament should work together with the companies (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram…). Previously, he already asked them to purge posts that are about suicide and self-harm when a teenager called Molly Russell killed herself in November 2017 at the age of 14, after seeing disturbing posts on social media about suicide, even though she did not show any signs of several mental health issues before.

Russell’s father told the BBC that Instagram „helped killer her daughter,” and he also had harsh words towards online scrapbook Pinterest, saying it „a huge amount to answer for.” Instagram announced that they will do a full review of their technologies and enforcement policies, and their owner, Facebook, also said they are „deeply sorry.” Pinterest‘s spokesman also said that they also have a lot to do. Papyrus, a UK charity, also said that just last week, thirty families have contacted them saying social media played a role in their children’s suicide.

First, there are doubts about Brexit (another voting will happen on January 29 in the parliament), and now this…?

Source: BBC