Philip N Howard: ‘Social media need a radical rebuild’

If we take back control of our data, we can use it for good

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Social media doesn't have to bring us only junk news and misinformation about coronavirus. Unfortunately, big platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter aren't designed to promote healthy debate, find consensus, or solve problems. To have that kind of social media would require a radical rebuild. And the underlying principle for this would be that data about public life belongs to the public.

In important ways, our democracies grew up around a scaffolding of data. Governments collected census information, and analysed it to improve public services, and made the data available to us all. Health researchers organised large studies and shared the results. Credit card companies and marketing specialists also generated data - to be bought, sold, and made useful for private advertisers.