Facebook executive Nick Clegg has said that the BigTech’s algorithms "should be held to account, if necessary, by regulation”.

The former Liberal Democrat leader, who is now Fakebook’s vice president for global affairs and communications, also said the platform's users wanted to be exposed to "more friends, less politics" on NBC News' Meet The Press programme.

Clegg said he was unable to answer whether Fakebook’s algorithms helped amplify the voices of the people who had attacked the US capitol in January.

The executive also highlighted that Facebook did not lift its "exceptional" safety measures directly after the result of the 2020 presidential election and that these features were active until the inauguration.

Clegg said the group is experimenting with ways to limit the number of politics involved in people's Facebook experience.

In addition, Clegg said Facebook was set to introduce a new feature called “take a break” to Instagram that will “nudge” users to stop using the service.

The news comes after Facebook chief executive and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg denied claims made by a whistleblower that the company puts profits before tackling hate speech.

Zuckerberg said the allegations, made by ex-product manager Frances Haugen, were “just not true.”

The BigTech giant has had to slow its product rollout this year because of public scrutiny of the impact of its services on users; in September Facebook-owned Instagram announced that it will pause the launch of its platform for under 13s. LINK

The social media company said that it wanted to work with parents, experts, and policymakers to “demonstrate the need for this product.”

"We are constantly iterating in order to improve our products,” said Clegg. "We cannot, with a wave of the wand, make everyone's life perfect.”

“What we can do is improve our products, so that our products are as safe and as enjoyable to use."

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