Digital secretary Matt Hancock says social media firm not above the law and must do more

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The digital secretary, Matt Hancock, has warned Facebook that it was not above the law, as he threatened the social media firm with regulation if it failed to protect users’ data more effectively.

At what government sources said was a “robust but constructive” meeting, Hancock warned Facebook the relationship between government and social media firms would have to change.



Afterwards, Hancock said: “Social media companies are not above the law and will not be allowed to shirk their responsibilities to our citizens. We will do what is needed to ensure that people’s data is protected and don’t rule anything out – that includes further regulation in the future.”

Attending the meeting for Facebook were its US-based vice-president of global policy management, Monika Bickert, and global deputy chief privacy officer, Stephen Deadman.

Sources said Hancock made clear to them that the company’s current approach to safeguarding its users’ data was unacceptable, and he would be seeking clear evidence that its attitude had changed.

The meeting took place as Facebook’s founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, was facing a second day of grilling in the US Congress over the company’s approach to preventing data being misused.

Zuckerberg has apologised – and conceded that the company was wrong to accept assurances by Cambridge Analytica that it would delete data harvested from Facebook users in contravention of its rules.

The digital and culture secretary’s comments were the latest indication of a shift in the government’s approach towards social media firms, against the background of mounting public concern over their role and behaviour.

Theresa May has repeatedly accused social media firms of failing to act quickly enough to take down extremist content; while the chancellor, Philip Hammond, has indicated that the Treasury would like to see multinational digital firms pay more tax in the UK.

It was unclear specifically what action Hancock had in mind; but government sources said he would “hold their feet to the fire”.