Web giants failed to notice Russia’s new Cold War against the West and let its agents spread fake news, top spy boss says
Ex-GCHQ chief Robert Hannigan said social networks could need regulation to stop fake news
FACEBOOK and other web giants were too "naive" to recognise Russia's new Cold War against the West being waged online, a top spy boss said today.
Robert Hannigan, the former head of GCHQ, suggested the Government may have to start regulating social networks to prevent them being hijacked by hostile powers.
He described Russia's use of cyber attacks as "a new way" of waging war against the country's enemies.
Vladimir Putin's regime has been accused of trying to undermine elections in countries including the US and France, as well as disrupting key utilities in other smaller states.
Mr Hannigan told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Facebook had not done enough to stop Russia spreading fake news online.
He said: "The fake news is new, it caught them by surprise, it shouldn't have done, they were a bit naive.
"They’re focused on other things, they’re commercial businesses - they’re focused on making money and extending connections between people, which is the big Facebook thing, but they haven’t put enough effort and time and engineering brilliance into doing this."
The experienced spy added: "Free speech is important, but it is important that people know the sources of the information they are reading and who is behind it.
"The only people who can expose that is the tech companies.
"I hope the tech companies will get there before regulation but it might ultimately have to be regulated if they can’t do it themselves."
Asked if he thinks Russia is trying to wage a modern version of the Cold War, Mr Hannigan replied: "I think it’s been going on a while actually.
"It has been underway for a long time. I think that they see themselves as well into this new conflict."
Mark Zuckerberg recently admitted that Facebook should have done more to combat the spread of fake news via the social network.
Russian agents are believed to have promoted the campaign of Donald Trump online as well as trying to sow doubt in America's electoral system.
The country's government has deployed similar strategies against states like Ukraine which pose a challenge to Russian authority.
A spokesman for Facebook declined to comment directly on Mr Hannigan's remarks but pointed out that Mr Zuckerberg has repeatedly pledged to do more to tackle fake news.
The CEO said recently: "We will strengthen our ad review process for political ads. To be clear, it has always been against our policies to use any of our tools in a way that breaks the law - and we already have many controls in place to prevent this. But we can do more."
He added: "We are actively working with the US government on its ongoing investigations into Russian interference. We support Congress in deciding how to best use this information to inform the public, and we expect the government to publish its findings when their investigation is complete."
