Call for Social Media Transparency and Accountability from Prominent Media Owner
The digital landscape’s influence on public discourse has prompted Sir Paul Marshall, a notable figure in British media and an evangelical Christian, to urge social media giants like Elon Musk to enhance transparency by revealing the algorithms that control content visibility.
During a lecture at Oxford University, Sir Paul, who holds stakes in outlets such as GB News, The Spectator, and UnHerd, advocated for significant reforms in the operations of major tech companies.
He expressed, “Social media platforms like X, Bluesky or Meta should be required to publish all the algorithms that they use to analyse or influence our preferences. Elon Musk believes in open source and transparency for manufacturing. He should do the same for X.
“We should all be able to know how the algorithms work which place certain stories and characters in our timeline and not others.”
Sir Paul further emphasized the need for increased accountability, suggesting that these platforms should be regulated akin to common carriers. “Social media platforms should be regulated as common carriers. Under the current regulations, they are exempted from any of the responsibilities of a traditional publisher. They have power without responsibility. Effectively, those who post are treated as publishers.
“The platforms cannot be held to account for what is published, yet they still enjoy many of the powers of a publisher. In particular, they can manipulate the saliency of posts through algorithms or even suspend accounts, even that of President Trump.
“This is wrong, and platforms need to have less power and more accountability. At the very least, there need to be constraints around them such as you would impose on a bank or a railway. They should not be allowed to refuse or suspend accounts or to actively demote the visibility of a post, unless it is in clear breach of the law.”
Renowned for his philanthropy, Sir Paul supports numerous charitable causes and is affiliated with Holy Trinity Brompton Church in London, known for the globally recognized Alpha Course.
His lecture, titled ‘Reflections of an Accidental Media Owner,’ was organized by The Pharos Foundation, a research and educational charity based in Oxford. He critiqued the UK’s media landscape, particularly the BBC’s dominant influence, while advocating for a diverse array of voices to be heard.
Reflecting on the competitive media environment, Sir Paul warned, “The dangers of this new ecosystem are clear. Unless we are careful, conspiracy theories will multiply. Truth will be sacrificed even more in the quest for eyeballs, and tribal conflict will become ever more dominant.”
He concluded, “The key overriding principle for me is to ensure that there is a golden thread of responsibility and accountability running through everything, whether that be the platforms, the publishers or self-publishing individuals.”
Rev Peter Crumpler is a Church of England minister in St Albans, Herts, UK, and a former communications director with the CofE.
This article was originally written by www.christiantoday.com
