Damian Collins MP, who made his name investigating Cambridge Analytica in the House of Commons and featured in the Netflix documentary The Great Hack, has said the country needs “emergency legislation” on social-media use if a general election is called.
Collins wants “rules on social-media campaigning that are fit for purpose” and adds that “current rules and limits around political donations can currently be easily evaded” and should also be changed. The Tory MP for Folkestone and Hythe chairs the Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee, which launched an inquiry into disinformation and “fake news” in 2017 following allegations about campaigning during the EU referendum.
As part of the inquiry Collins frequently clashed with Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg, summoning him to the Commons three times to give evidence. Zuckerberg failed to show and Collins was left questioning his deputies.
“Those who have been sent to the committee as representatives of Facebook have been unable to answer many of our questions, which is why we need Zuckerberg himself to come to Parliament to answer them,” Collins told the Cherwell student newspaper.