Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics Chair Bob Zimmer gestures to a reporter during a news conference in Ottawa on Dec. 11, 2018.

OTTAWA — Social media companies should rid their platforms of inauthentic accounts and give an oversight body the power to audit Facebook and Google's algorithms, MPs said Tuesday in a report focused on curbing the spread of disinformation online. These were two recommendations out of 26 proposed by a Commons committee on access to information, privacy and ethics after an eight-month study sparked by concerns Canadians' personal information may have been stolen by the data firm Cambridge Analytica. The scope of the study quickly widened after MPs recognized how influential the unregulated tech giants' are over public opinion. The report highlights how high-profile data breaches and scandals have illuminated gaps in accountability structures for Facebook and Google. It also acknowledges the limits of government intervention over U.S.-based social media companies.

Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics Chair Bob Zimmer (left) and Deputy-Chair Charlie Angus (right) look on as deputy-chair Nathaniel Erskine-Smith speaks during a news conference in Ottawa on Dec. 11, 2018.

Conservative MP Bob Zimmer, chair of the committee, admitted MPs had "stumbled on an iceberg" and stressed the urgency of the issue to reporters, saying unchecked algorithm-based social platforms will continue to influence elections. "We've seen it done before. We've seen it just done in the [U.S.] midterms. Am I concerned about that in Canada? Absolutely," he said. The report, "Democracy Under Threat: Risks and Solutions In The Era Of Disinformation And Data Monopoly," calls for social media platforms to delete "inauthentic and fraudulent" accounts as well as label paid ads and content produced by bots. Facebook announced in October that it took action to combat the spread of disinformation on its platform, most recently in lead up to the U.S. midterms. The company said it deleted 559 pages and 251 accounts that "consistently" broke its rules against spam and "coordinated inauthentic behavior." They were pages created "to stir up political debate, including in the US, the Middle East, Russia and the U.K.," Facebook explained. Watch: Google CEO grilled by U.S. Congress on political bias and privacy