The influential Commons Culture Committee is said to be organizing to launch a formal inquiry into the spread of fake news over the internet.
The cross-party committee is concerned over the adverse effects of fake news and malicious content over democracy. The Telegraph reported that these fake news can be particularly damaging during election time, noting how such reports were circulated last year about former United States presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton which were later proven untrue.
One such report even prompted a man in Washington D.C. to go to a pizza restaurant with his assault rifle to 'self-investigate" a conspiracy theory. The incident now fatefully known as 'pizzagate' has been debunked but the damage is done. That man wasn't the only one who fell victim to misleading information. Even notable personalities have been confused with this false news because it can be hard to tell which is legit news from those parading to be legit.
Member of Parliament (MP) Damian Collins (Tory), Committee chairman, said that social media platforms have the obligation to ensure that their channels are not being abused with the proliferation of fake news and should act the same way the internet has acted on piracy.
Google, Facebook and Twitter have been taking the heat with calls for more effort to filter and stop the prevalence of fake news which was also said to have affected election outcomes in the U.S.
MP Collins further noted that since identifying a valid news website can be challenging, so the truth is always trying to catch up with the false information that has been shared and that false information might end up shaping public opinion and knowledge.
The Independent reported that the inquiry which is expected to start late spring or early summer would call on executives from major social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, and Google where the measures they have taken to prevent and control the spread of fake news will be questioned.
News organizations are also taking steps to debunk the spread of false information online. BBC for instance, has confirmed they are putting up a team to help tackle the spread of fake news.
MP Michael Dugher from the Labour Party has already launched an inquiry into the matter and recently noting the essential role of journalism in democracy and free speech and that we are responsible to make sure it remains good everywhere.