Facebook: Nick Clegg says 'no evidence' of Russian interference in Brexit vote
There is "absolutely no evidence" Russia influenced the Brexit result using Facebook, the company's vice-president, Sir Nick Clegg, has said.
The former deputy PM told the BBC the company had carried out analyses of its data and found no "significant attempt" by outside forces to sway the vote.
Instead, he argued that "the roots to British euroscepticism go very deep".
In a wide-ranging interview, Sir Nick also called for more regulation of Facebook and other tech giants.
In response, Damian Collins, chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee, tweeted that Sir Nick was wrong to suggest that there was no Russian interference on Facebook during the referendum, quoting a link to research carried out by a communications agency.
Sir Nick, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats and deputy prime minister during the coalition government, was
hired by Facebook in October last year.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said Facebook was now arguing for greater regulation of tech firms.
He said there was a "pressing need" for new "rules of the road" on privacy, election rules, the use of people's data and adjudicating on what constitutes hate speech.
It follows growing criticism of the tech giant and
calls from MPs for far stricter regulation over issues including fake news, harmful content and the way user data is used.
Asked whether Facebook should not be fixing some of these issues itself, Sir Nick said it was not something big tech companies "can or should" do on their own.
"It's not for private companies, however big or small, to come up with those rules. It is for democratic politicians in the democratic world to do so," he said.
But he stressed companies like Facebook should play a "mature role" in advocating - rather than shunning - regulation.
Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson tweeted that Sir Nick's proposed remedy of an oversight committee was inadequate.
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'Conspiracy'
In the interview, Sir Nick dismissed claims that data analytics firm
Cambridge Analytica influenced people's decision to vote Leave in the EU referendum in 2016.
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Sir Nick Clegg tells Today that "the roots to British euroscepticism go very deep"
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Media captionSir Nick Clegg tells Today that "the roots to British euroscepticism go very deep"
"Much though I understand why people want to sort of reduce that eruption in British politics to some kind of plot or conspiracy - or some use of new social media through opaque means - I'm afraid the roots to British Euroscepticism go very, very deep," he said.
Instead, he argued attitudes had been influenced far more by "traditional media" over the last 40 years than by new media.