this is business live from bbc news with susannah streeter and victoria fritz. fake news backlash — social media users are angry and lawmakers want to know what the big tech companies are doing to combat the growing problem. live from london, that's our top story on thursday the 8th of february. twitter, youtube and facebook will face a grilling by uk members of paliament in washington over their "completely inadequate" approach to fake news. also in the programme — shining a light on the dark web. the us breaks a cybercrime ring that traded stolen bank details around the world. this is the situation on the financial markets. in europe, down across the borders that volatility continues. and, with health services

increasingly stretched, could home testing kits like this one help bear the burden? and, our twitter question of the day — are you fed up with fake news? should tech companies be doing more to keep your newsfeed fa ke—news free? that is a tongue twister! just use the hashtag #bbcbizlive. hello and welcome. we start with the growing backlash against social media companies over their role in the spread of fake news. today executives from facebook — youtube which is owned by google — and twitter will be questioned about the issue by british members of parliament at a public hearing in washington. critics have given the tech giants an unflattering new acronym: baadd. as in big, anti—competitive, addictive and destructive to democracy. last month, facebook reacted to criticism by refocusing on updates from friends

and family, rather than news publishers and brands. it says that has led to people spending 50 million fewer hours a day on the network — a fall of around 5%. facebook has admitted 146 million users may have been subjected to russian misinformation, before and after the us presidential election. jason karaian, the globalfinance and economics editor at quartz, joins me now. thank you forjoining us. we tend to think of fake news being something that we read, but is it also something we can quantify, something we can consume, something we can buy and trade? we are starting to. twitter has been explaining and upping the numbers of people that have seen russian disinformation. we are starting to identify some of the most popular forms of

disinformation. these hearings will get to the bottom of that little bit. the companies themselves are now realising they are not neutral platforms, in a massive change of tone, they are disseminating some of this disinformation, fake news, so they need some way to quantify it. it is something they can'tjust pretend that they are just a platform letting it washed through and they don't have any responsibility for it. that is certainly true cost of you have called it a massive change of tone. surely a big change of tone would be putting up the chief executives of these companies. these are middle management people. apologies to the people, and sure they are very good at theirjobs but people, and sure they are very good at their jobs but these are people, and sure they are very good at theirjobs but these are not people, and sure they are very good at their jobs but these are not the bosses of these companies and quite frankly, it was mps from britain who had to go to washington, all the way across the pond, to find and speak to them in the first place. these

tech companies with fake it is the public policy executives who are there and it is not unique to these particular hearings. that's what these companies have done. those of these companies have done. those of the spokespeople they have put forward on who they say are at the forefront of deciding the company's responses. frankly, for optics purposes, putting mark zuckerberg in front of mps that that is not something they want, so they would rather put those more mid—level lawyerly executives in front. it is shrewd on their part. we have seen this kind of grilling before, does it make that much of an impact or do you think we will see more impact and real changes at social media companies of investor say, we are going to pull money out because there is a start of that jared kushner there is a sharp reaction to that and the groundswell of public opinion. -- there is the start of

that? i think i would probably have a bigger impact if user engagement went on, if people started deleting their accounts and if investors started to sell their shares. i think that would have a lot more effect than a few mps flying over the ocean to talk to lawyers. thank you very much for coming in and talking us through that, jason. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news... the electric car maker tesla has posted its worst ever quarterly loss — some 675 million in the three months to december. the firm warned that spending will increase this year. but it has stuck to its target of producing 5000 model 3's a week by the end of the second quarter. majorjapanese investors in britain are due to meet the uk prime minister and chancellor on thursday. they include carmakers nissan, toyota and honda — along with banks and drug companies. it comes amid fresh debate among business over brexit negotiations. 21st century fox says it continues

to expect uk approval of its takeover of broadcaster sky, despite a provisional finding that the deal is not in the public interest. chief executive james murdoch has told analysts the firm is working with authorities to resolve concerns. officials in the united states say they've broken up a major international cyber—crime ring. 36 people have been charged with being part of a group which deals in stolen credit cards, bank fraud and id theft. the us department ofjustice says the group trafficked stolen identities across five continents using an online forum on the dark web known as "in—fraud". more on that story a little later in the programme. to asia now — and in the last couple of hours china has posted a healthy set of trade figures forjanuary. in particular, a bigjump in imports because of a stronger domestic economy. leisha santorelli joins us from our

asia business hub in singapore. it really goes to the heart of the changing nature of china and its economy. the data shows that growth remains robust in the world's second largest economy, absolutely. imports beat estimates by a really wide margin, rising by 37% in value from a year earlier. to compare that, markets were expecting a 10% rise. as for xbox, they rose about ii%, which shows they are still in strong demand. another interesting point i wa nt to demand. another interesting point i want to make, china's trade surplus with america narrowed from last yea r‘s record level, with america narrowed from last year's record level, which is a positive sign to beijing, given they have a very sensitive trade relationship with president trump. analysts a re relationship with president trump. analysts are saying we need to treat this set of data with some caution and that is because the trade members are actually being magnified

by something called seasonal volatility. for example, there was a surge in oil shipments last month because they had freezing weather in china and there has been stockpiling ahead of the chinese new year, which sta rts ahead of the chinese new year, which starts next week. 0verall, trade growth expected to be strong but these sets of figures are magnified. thank you very much. let's check in with the financial markets. most major asian indices rose today, following the week's sharp losses but it's pretty choppy out there — with traders are struggling to get a firm footing in this volatile climate. the hang seng is up. the dow closed lower again. let's take a look at europe. they are all down as well. the temporal map. looking ahead to the bank of england to find out their financial policy. and joe miller has the details about

what's ahead on wall street today. they wonder what on thursday as twitter, which has despite its global reach never reported a profit since it debuted on the stock market. it is expected to do so at last, thanks in large part to an aggressive year of cost—cutting. twitter has been buoyed by its most famous user, of course, donald trump. investors, they will be looking elsewhere to see if the user base as a whole is growing, particularly outside of the united states. talking of donald trump, we will see if he has revived the fortu nes will see if he has revived the fortunes of the media with wall street owner news corp and the new york times publishing results. and video game publisher activision blizzard, the makers of call of duty. they are expected to report a rise in revenue, helped by titles over christmas. gamers will be searching for clues about the

company's searching for clues about the compa ny‘s plans for 2018. joining us isjeremy stretch, head of currency strategy, cibc world markets. good morning. welcome to the programme. let's start with something suzanne mentioned. it is ready about what is happening later on with the ecb and bank of england. we will have the minutes of their discussions, the meeting coming up and it will give us some sort of direction towards their monetary policy. it was fears of rapid interest rate rises that led to that market sell off earlier in the week? absolutely. everything is revolving around central banks, as we gradually move past the era of ultra low interest rates and expectations moving up. the bank of england, we're not expecting any policy changes today but i wouldn't be necessary over lee surprised if a couple of members of the committee vote for an immediate rate hike. then we have mark carney giving his press briefing on the forecast and i think markets will be looking at

guidance as to where the bank of england are going, how quickly they will try to normalise policy. but of course, there is that elephant in the room, relating to brexit negotiations which will have an impact. how much guidance can you give, given the elephant in the room? everything has to be qualified. i think if you could have excluded the brexit story, i think markets would be discounting a reasonable possibility of a hike. in may, when we get them max forecasts. looking at that sort of timing, i think it's far too ambitious. i think if we look at the deterioration or reversal we have seenin deterioration or reversal we have seen in the indices this month, showing a slight moderation of activity at the start of the year, i think it makes sense for banks to say, yes we would like hike rates and we will over time, but i think we have to be cautious and prudent. what about the european central bank, to what extent do you think the outcome of the german coalition talks will affect, have an impact on those discussions on the direction of future policy? i think they will

have a material impact on future policy. what we have seen this the opposition, formal opposition, now taking control of the finance ministry. i think that will loosen the purse strings in germany. i think that will be important in terms of growth dynamics in germany and eurozone as a homework. i think you add to the debate within the ecb andi you add to the debate within the ecb and i think from the germanic perspective, the policy in europe is far too loose and i think that will add to the debate and the timing or pressure on the european central bank to consider their own policy reversal. i suspect has become to the back end of this year, those negative deposit rates which have been prevalent in europe will start to be taken off the table. thank you very much. you will be back later to talk a little about cybercrime and a controversial gambling conference in still to come... we book our own trips and scan our own groceries, but what about something like doing our own blood test?

is health care heading towards a do—it—yourself model? we'll be finding out in a few minutes. you're with business live from bbc news. talktalk is in talks to roll out full fibre broadband to 3 million uk homes. the broadband firm has also announced plans to raise £200m through a rights issue. joining us now is our economics correspondent, andrew walker. talktalk is looking to raise this money and shift the focus towards broadband, away from mobile. what are the key steps they have announced ? are the key steps they have announced? quite striking move. in a sense, you could describe this as going back to their roots. the company originally started off within carphone offering services over fixed line and then subsequently got into mobile. now it is going back towards those fixed line services, creating a new

company, along with infrastructure. it will be aiming to provide full fibre services to 3 million users across the country. they have already started an experiment on this in york, where they have 14,000 already connected, aiming to get up to 50,000 as a result of work that is currently in hand. they are proposing to go to investors, to raise another £200 million. of that, £40 million they are proposing will come from the executive chairman or executive director. trying to send a message to other would be investors that the board is really committed to this project. and they are also going to be, they are also going to be continuing with this process of switching mobile customers over to 02, when their contracts expire they are being offered a new contract with 02, rather than reviewing the

talktalk operation. 0ne with 02, rather than reviewing the talktalk operation. one of the striking things about the trading update i have here, there are four pages, or mobile there isjust update i have here, there are four pages, or mobile there is just a single sentence. fascinating, thank you. you will be across that for us. andrew walker in our business room, where it looks like people haven't got into work yet, looks a bit empty! there are some people working. they are filling in the website pages. is it another day of stock market volatility? talktalk shares faring badly. you're watching business live. our top story... uk members of parliament will question social media bosses in washington later over the issue of fake news after calling the firms' response

so far "completely inadequate." many of us are trying to be more healthy these days. but how do you fancy tracking your health by testing your own blood at home? well, one company — thriva — provides kits that can be used at home to test for a variety of different things. they can track a wide range of health indicators including cholesterol and liver function. you send the sample to the company — which then gives you expert analysis online. so, is this a good way to spot early signs of illness and take pressure off over—stretched health services? hamish grierson, co—founder of thriva joins me now. ijust want i just want find out how you set up the company, giving you do not have a medical background. no, that is

right. thriva was created with one simple purpose in mind. we wanted to give anybody access to the benefit that comes of getting a regular check up on your health as you point out it is about staying in front of the health issues that impact millions of people around the country. practically speaking, the reason we have started with a blood test you can do from home, it is basically painless, a little pinprick. 0ne basically painless, a little pinprick. one of my two business partners has a genetic, high cholesterol disposition which means he tests his blood every three or four months. i am fascinated by nutrition and how you can hack your way to a healthier body. the combination of those two things ultimately led us to think about what happens when you put the consumer at the heart of what is a health care process and trying to power them to understand their own

information and be able to take a good decision, or make a decision, on the basis of that data. your business partner, elliott, you said he is taking his own blood every three months. i have never done that. how could i be assured that what i was doing was accurate and could get me the same results as a doctor if they did the same test? could get me the same results as a doctor if they did the same test7m isa doctor if they did the same test7m is a really good question for the credibility that the core of what we are about. the reality is laboratories we used to analyse your blood would be exactly the same as the nhs laboratories. really importantly, we talked before we came on airabout importantly, we talked before we came on air about what happens when you see something and the results that might be potentially problematic, or stimulate a concern. the reality for us is, information

without context, for us, is really irresponsible. every report is looked at by an nhs trained gp we work with. the report itself delivered online, really clear to understand what those things in the report mean. it is written in plain english would you can see a crafts. you inside outside a particular reference range? —— a craft will stop as i say, it is about making sure you can trust the information have the credibility you would otherwise expect from a blood test you would take elsewhere and you know what to do with the information when you have it. there was another quite well—known blood testing company in the united states which collapsed. have you found it difficult to get funding for your business because of that? people trust you in what you are doing. business because of that? people trust you in what you are doinglj would trust you in what you are doing.” would be lying if i said every single investor was happy about it that none of our customers ever

have. there is a simple reality which is that we do things differently. we share some mission. we're also about trying to empower people to proactively manage their health. because we are executing in a fundamentally different way, it is fairly short. do you have trial setup with the national health service in the uk? we are proud that we have watched our first pilot working with the royal brompton hospital, in association with cystic fibrosis department. 0ver hospital, in association with cystic fibrosis department. over time what we came to appreciate is, just because you are a patient having gone into what we think as the sick or serious care system the national health service is about, it does not mean you ought not to be empowered to manage your health proactively as well stop that particular pilot is about helping people who otherwise would be coming back and forth from the hospital. apparently you do not

see the needles. you never see any dog. it is a tiny pinprick and is painless. -- any needle. let's go to singapore now — which is holding its annual air show. asia's aviation boom has strained capacity at some airports around the region. it's also created a shortage of pilots who can fly the planes. our business reporter mariko 0i reports. training to be a pilot. it takes up to two years to learn how to deal with emergencies inside and around an aircraft. for 28—year—old dean it was his childhood dream. when i was young i took a flight in new zealand and flew around the mountains. i was away from everything. it was fantastic. but it is competitive to get in. here in singapore, 600 apply

for 60 spots annually. it is not cheap. up to 140,000 us dollars to com plete cheap. up to 140,000 us dollars to complete the course. many cadets, including 24—year—old —— this 24—year—old man pay for the training themselves. i think it is worth it for the investment. in the long one, this is my passion. and shame will likely get his money's worth because there is an acute shortage of pilots. boeing is forecasting that global airlines will need to hire 637,000 new pilots over the next 20 yea rs. 637,000 new pilots over the next 20 years. some 40% of that demand comes from asia. jeremy is back to look through the papers. before we do that, we are going to go through some of the tweets. we have been asking about fake news. they can use as a big problem in the

digital world. it creates a wrong perception. tech giants must take action against this. another said, it would be nice if they could help to weed out fake news but should be held responsible for the spread of it as long as they didn't literally promote it. a really tricky subject. from my perspective, clearly it adds to the uncertainty. you do see these news stories coming across news wires and all the various sources. that does impact financial markets will stop you do get distortions which can create and feed their own panic. that is something we are very mindful of. another story we are talking about is the cyber crime mass arrest in the united states. another development in the ongoing battle. it is the ongoing arms race,

the battle between good and evil. you have the dark web and people being arrested across continents. all the bases covered in terms of the spectrum of the modern cyber crime story. it underlines that regulatory authorities are continuing to try and crack down but it isa continuing to try and crack down but it is a very difficult process. difficult process. you say we are trying to crack down but it is striking we are trying to create an online black market, grow it to a half billion dollar operation and get away with it. it is astonishing when you look at the details involved. it is a race operation which is being run outside the confines of the mainstream internet process in an effort to try to facilitate stealing people's details to do for them. it is astonishing this can go one almost in plain sight. that is the problem and difficulty that the authorities

have. we have heard a lot about attem pts have. we have heard a lot about attempts within various industries to stamp out sexual misconduct yet the gambling industry has been criticised for allowing an exhibition to take place with pole dancers in london this week. that has been criticised. it is part of a trend, isn't it, to shift away from the use of women as promotional tools? the fact this story has made media underlines changing dynamics. it has been a slow process but, if you think back 20,30 it has been a slow process but, if you think back 20, 30 years it has been a slow process but, if you think back 20,30 years ago, you would have had women draped across ca rs would have had women draped across cars at motor shows. that does not happen any more. the context but this has been flagged underlines that we are slowly getting to a scenario that is much more beneficial. thank you for being on the programme today. goodbye. that's it from business live today. there will be more business news throughout the day we'll see you again tomorrow.

contrasting conditions across the uk. not as cold this money because there is more cloud around. that will bring in outbreaks of rain. there will also be some sunshine filled up the best of the sunshine is in the south east. you can see the bright lights of london indicating clear skies. the cloud at the moment is only producing a few spots of rain, a few showers. it will intensify across northern england, wales and the south west of england. more cloud into the south—east later but more bright spells. elsewhere for scotland and northern ireland, a bit more cloud around full look at the temperatures, 7—10d not as cold as recent days. the rain will continue to spread down towards the

south—east of england. we will see the green map returning in the north. temperatures dropping just below freezing. 0n north. temperatures dropping just below freezing. on friday, rain will clear away from the south east and then with the see a few wintry showers across the midlands, the north of england and snow showers across the north of scotland. for most of us on friday, a dry day with sunshine. colder compared to today. temperatures dropping down by a few degrees. that's have a look at the pressure charts going into the weekend. another weather system moving in. the isobars are coming a bit closer together. a breezy day on saturday. with that, some rain spreading south and east with. there will be snow on the high ground of scotland and the

north of england as well. the rain will spread into the south east. quite a breezy day. temperatures on the rise again. a roller—coaster over the next few days, 7—10d. 0n saturday night into sunday, as the reins from the weather system clears to the south—east, we return to a north—westerly wind. when it comes from a direction, it is colder. all of us, as we go into sunday, under the influence of the colder air. where there is cold air, there is the risk of snow showers on sunday. also a lot of sunshine around to rout the day. more on the website. that is all from me for now. goodbye. —— throughout the day. hello — it's thursday, it's 9 o'clock. i'm chloe tilley, welcome to the programme. the workplace culture at westminster is in need of urgent reform. a new report shows almost a fifth of people working there witnessing or experiencing sexual harassment in the past year. mps will propose a new code of conduct later today. it's also about putting the complainant at the heart of the process, giving them back control, because very often, particularly in the case of sexual

crimes that have been committed, that individual feels that control has been taken away from them. so what should be done? we'll be speaking to some of the mps that are working to change the culture in westminster. no—one has forgotten the bravery of the firefighters who attended the grenfell tower fire lastjune — now five of the men who fought the fire are running the london marathon together. they're speaking to us for the first time since it happened.