'A crisis in our democracy': Lawmakers warn fake news and targeted ads put elections at risk (FB)

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• British MPs said fake news, hypertargeted advertising, and manipulation are threatening democracy.
• Damian Collins MP called on the UK government to take urgent action and impose stricter regulation on tech firms to tackle the problem.
• Collins is chair of a UK committee which has been investigating the issue of fake news over the last 18 months.
• He specifically put Facebook and, to a lesser extent, Google, in the crosshairs for not doing enough to remove misinformation from their platforms.

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British politicians blasted Facebook and Google for helping create a democratic crisis, with fake news, hypertargeted advertising, and data manipulation putting elections and referenda at risk.

In a report from the UK's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, lawmakers called on the government to take urgent action to protect the democratic process.

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