British lawmakers issued a scathing report today that calls for tougher rules to keep Facebook and other tech firms from acting like "digital gangsters" and intentionally violating data privacy and competition laws.
The report on fake news and disinformation on social media sites followed an 18-month investigation by Parliament's influential media committee.
"Companies like Facebook should not be allowed to behave like 'digital gangsters' in the online world, considering themselves to be ahead of and beyond the law," the report added.
"It is evident that Facebook intentionally and knowingly violated both data privacy and anti-competition laws," the report said. It also accused CEO Mark Zuckerberg of showing contempt for the U.K. Parliament by declining numerous invitations to appear before the committee.
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The committee recommended that social media sites should have to follow a mandatory code of ethics overseen by an independent regulator to better control harmful or illegal content.
The government said it welcomed the "report's contribution towards our work to tackle the increasing threat of disinformation and to make the UK the safest place to be online. We will respond in due course."