Several countries around the world are seriously considering regulating social media – but what might that look like?
A new report has presented a set of ideas that its authors say could end the "information chaos that poses a vital threat to democracies."
One of the findings of this report suggests that social networks should be required to release details of their algorithms and key functions to trusted researchers so that the technology can be verified.
He also suggests adding "friction" to online distributions to prevent the rampant spread of misinformation.
The report was published by the Forum for Information and Democracy, which was created to make non-binding recommendations to 38 countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, South Korea and the United Kingdom.
Among those who contributed to the report were Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christopher Wylie and former Facebook investor Roger McNamee - a long-time critic of the social network.
What does this report suggest?
One of the core recommendations is the creation of a “statutory building code,” which outlines mandatory safety and quality requirements for digital platforms.
"If I were to make a kitchen appliance, I would have to do more safety testing. And if I wanted to make a toaster, I would have to go through a lot more compliance procedures than I would have to go through to make Facebook," Mr Wylie told the BBC.
He said social networks should be required to weigh all the potential harms that could be caused by their design and engineering decisions.
The report also suggests that social networks should compensate every single person who may have been exposed to misinformation, if such is confirmed by independent fact-checkers.
Other suggestions include:
Implementing “switches” so that content that has started to go viral is stopped and fact-checked before it is re-broadcast;
By limiting the use of micro-targeted advertising messages;
Making it illegal to exclude people from content based on race or religion, such as hiding an ad from audiences made up of people of color;
Banning the use of so-called "dark patterns" - user interfaces that are designed to confuse or frustrate users.
This report also includes several proposals that Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube already make voluntarily, such as:
By labeling the accounts of state-controlled news organizations;
By limiting how many times messages can be forwarded in large groups, like Facebook does on WhatsApp.