In a March 30 statement posted on Facebook, the social platform's co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg called on governments to play a more active role in internet regulations.
Mr. Zuckerberg outlined four areas of the internet that need new regulations: Harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability.
"…People shouldn't have to rely on individual companies addressing these issues by themselves," Mr. Zuckerberg wrote. "We should have a broader debate about what we want as a society and how regulation can help."
Facebook has previously faced criticism for its own data sharing practices, including obtaining users' personal data from popular health and fitness apps without consent and allegedly leaking various private and public group members' health information.
Additionally, the social media giant has faced scrutiny for the spread of false vaccine information across its platform, which Kyle Yasuda, MD, the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics referred to as a "public health crisis." Facebook released a plan to combat the spread of vaccine misinformation on its social platform by removing groups that focus on sharing false vaccine information among other initiatives.
To access the full statement, click here.