How borderless nature of internet makes social media regulation complicated

These problems are so intertwined with the sovereignty of each state that an international agreement that manages all the issues but is acceptable to all is unrealistic

 

Free speech is a key aspect of the internet, but it has become increasingly obvious that many online will push that freedom to extremes, leaving website comment sections, Twitter feeds and Facebook groups awash with racist, sexist, homophobic or otherwise unpalatable opinions and vitriolic views, and obscene or shocking images or videos.

The borderless nature of the internet, where a website may be hosted in one country, operated by staff in another, with comments left by readers in a third, poses a thorny problem for website operators and government agencies seeking to tackle the issue.

In Britain, the telecommunications regulator Ofcom recently