Digital Confidential: Politics and technology column by Damian Collins

Mace | 12th March 2026 | Comment, Magazine
damian collins

As AI turbocharges social media, tech giants must be held accountable says the former chair of the DCMS select committee who now leads law firm Geradin Partners' public policy department in London.

In 1933, the year Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany, a Russian novel by Lev Nitoburg, The German Quarter, gave one of the first published tellings of the fable of the scorpion and the frog. A scorpion asks a frog to carry it across a river, as it cannot swim. The frog hesitates, fearing it will be stung. The scorpion argues that would be foolish — if it stings the frog, both will drown. Yet midway across the river, the scorpion strikes. As they sink, the frog asks why. The scorpion replies: “I’m sorry, but it’s in my nature.” When we consider the relationship between social media platforms and their users, the frog and scorpion come to mind. The user trusts the platform despite better judgement; the algorithmically powered platform acts according to its incentives, even if the outcome is harmful. Tech executives often argue that it is not in their commercial interests to deliver poor user experiences. Yet evidence suggests otherwise. Internal research from Facebook, disclosed by wh...

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