In the Washington Post article, “Mark Zuckerberg: The Internet needs new rules. Let’s start in these four areas”, Zuckerberg calls for the government to make more regulations to preserve the legitimacy of the internet and safety for its consumers. Specifically, by: (1) regulating harmful content, (2) preserving election integrity, (3) protecting the privacy of its users, and (4) improving the maintenance of data. Zuckerberg explains each as they pertain to certain needs in mending internet usage on various platforms which are not limited to Facebook. The first is (1) the need for a standardized metric to evaluate and determine what constitutes “harmful content”. Zuckerberg states that Facebook works with an independent agency in this vein and recommends a different third-party to govern harmful content in accordance with the new comprehensive standards. Concerning (2) election integrity, Zuckerberg mentions that Facebook already improved the verification of political ads and created searchable archives for them; however, he argues that determining which ads classify as ‘political’ is not always clear. With regards to the (3) confidentiality of personal information, he proposes that more countries should adopt privacy policies, like GDPR, which would coordinate a framework for data protection across the globe. This framework would allow users to choose how their information is used and better ensure that privacy standards are universally met. He also stresses that this information should not be stored locally (where it is most vulnerable). Zuckerberg admits that there should be recognized protocol to “hold companies such as Facebook accountable by imposing sanctions when [they] make mistakes” and that regulations which vary by country or state will not be as successful as a “common global framework”. To address (4) data portability, Zuckerberg proposes that well-defined statutes outlining which agency is responsible for protecting information when it moves between services (different apps etc.) are necessary. He concludes that Facebook has made tremendous strides to identify and locate harmful content, to remove posts related to election interference, and to improve the transparency of ads. Additionally, Zuckerberg welcomes a discussion with lawmakers around the world to promote this agenda and acknowledges that there are many other issues to address.
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