Davos (Switzerland) (AFP) – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday proposed ending anonymity for social media users and forcing tech tycoons to provide accountability if their platforms “poison society”. The Socialist premier has been an outspoken voice about the sector and his latest intervention comes as a fierce debate surrounding social media and their wealthy owners intensifies.
Concern about conflicts of interest have surged after X owner Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, helped propel Donald Trump to a second term in the White House and waded into European politics. Social media now has “huge downsides, hidden in the bowels of the algorithms like invaders concealed in the belly of a Trojan horse,” Sanchez said in English at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Sanchez said social media users must link their accounts to a form of ID to crack down on misinformation, hate speech, harassment, and bots that proliferate under the cover of anonymity. All platforms should link every account to a “European digital identity wallet” to hold potential criminals responsible, he continued.
Regulators should be able to “force open the black box of social media algorithms” and “tycoons should be held responsible if their algorithms poison our society,” Sanchez said. “Let’s stop those who want to turn them (digital platforms) into a weapon for dismantling our democracies… let’s make social media great again,” he concluded, in a play on Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again”.
Sanchez has already accused Musk of attacking Europe’s democratic institutions and “stirring up hatred”. On Monday, he urged Europe to fight back against a new tech “caste” seeking to control Western governments through their social media platforms.
© 2024 AFP
