How social media stood by and did nothing about fake news during Brexit and US president votes

In the US presidential election and the Brexit referendum, Facebook and Twitter not only allowed fake news to proliferate, but withheld data on voter intentions, says Philip Howard

Social media companies are being criticised for influencing the US presidential election and the Brexit referendum by allowing fake news, misinformation, and hate speech to spread.

But Facebook’s and Twitter’s sin was omission: They failed to contribute to the data that democracy needs to thrive.