Data regulator needs to face down Facebook

The Channel 4 Dispatches investigation of how Facebook moderates content had a whiff of the Irish banking sector pre-2007.

This prevailing wisdom of a light-touch, soft-approach regime which trusts the social media sector to supervise itself. A ‘self-regulation’ philosophy which allows Facebook to leave graphic videos of violent assaults on children to remain on its site because the extreme content engages viewers for longer thereby generating higher advertising revenue.

Just like Ireland’s financial ...