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Sky speaks out in favour of regulatory clampdown on ‘untouchable’ US tech giants

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By John Glenday, Reporter

November 28, 2017 | 3 min read

Pay TV broadcaster Sky has spoken out on the need for greater regulation of US tech giants like Google and Facebook; publicly lashing out at a "tsunami" of recent negative headlines stretching from fake news to extremist propaganda.

Sky speaks out in favour of regulatory clampdown on ‘untouchable’ US tech giants

Pay TV broadcaster Sky has spoken out on the need for greater regulation of US tech giants like Google and Facebook

Chief executive Jeremy Darroch railed against what he perceived as lack of "regulation, accountability and transparency" from the likes of Google and Facebook, arguing that the days of a lawless Wild West internet were comin

Addressing an audience in Tallinn, Estonia, Darroch commented: “It is no longer good enough to say the internet is untouchable and beyond the norms that the rest of our society has to operate to.

“That includes, by the way, the tax that firms operating in the internet economy are expected to pay. When paying taxes, employing people and complying with the law are competitive disadvantages, you know that you have a problem.”

Sky’s hackles have been raised by the growing encroachment on its turf by the likes of Netflix and Amazon which have been merrily pumping out increasing volumes of original content – challenging Sky’s own advertising business in the process.

Darroch's comments come amid YouTube’s fall from grace among some advertisers, following widespread alarm at its continued hosting of extremist content, propaganda and other inappropriate content.

Going for the jugular Darroch added: “I cannot be sure whether our family friendly brand is appearing alongside the vilest illegal content online. And if a company the size of Sky cannot hope to be certain, what chance has an individual, especially a minor, of keeping safe?”

To rub salt into the wounds, Sky is subject to onerous rules governing intellectual property while its competitors face no such issues when hosting illegal content.

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