UK empowers broadcast regulator to take down certain materials while Germany takes measures to control online content.

It's a long-running debate: how should we regulate the internet and social media?

While sites including Facebook and Twitter allow us to share information, they've also become places for illegal and harmful content to thrive.

The UK now wants those firms to be more responsible.

The government will appoint its Broadcast regulator Ofcom as an online watchdog, with powers to force companies to take down certain material.

Other countries such as Germany and Australia have brought in measures to control online content.

But is regulation the answer? And can it be done without violating personal freedoms?

Presenter: Nastasya Tay

Guests:

David Erdos - Deputy Director, Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law (CIPIL) at the University of Cambridge

Eliska Pirkova - Europe Policy Analyst for Access Now, a digital rights advocacy group

Meera Selva - Director, Journalism Fellowship Programme, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford

Source: Al Jazeera News