Facebook chief warns G8 leaders: You cannot censor the internet

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg today warned world leaders against any attempts to regulate free speech on the internet.

Arriving at the G8 summit, where leaders are to discuss the future of the on-line world, he warned that interference would spoil the internet's power to spread freedom.

"People tell me 'It's great you played such a big role in the Arab Spring, but it's also kind of scary because you enable all this sharing and collect information on people'," said the billionaire software developer. "But it's hard to have one without the other. You can't isolate some things you like about the internet and control other things that you don't."

Google chief Eric Schmidt, also at the G8, said governments could not control the fast-moving technology. "Technology will move faster than governments, so don't legislate before you understand the consequences," he said.

A major meeting at the Deauville summit was called by Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, who is fascinated by the potential and the consequences of internet developments. Fellow leaders including Barack Obama and David Cameron will take part in a discussion that is expected to include the current British legal crisis in which Twitter has been used to defy court injunctions.

The Prime Minister's officials made it clear he does not think regulation would be effective. "There are a lot of practical problems," said one.

Mr Cameron went straight into a bilateral meeting with President Sarkozy on his arrival, talking for 10 minutes in private before allowing officials in. The pair, who are leading the military action over Libya, were understood to be discussing ways of "turning up the heat" on Colonel Gaddafi's regime.

Later, Mr Cameron and President Obama were pressing for a package of measures to support nations such as Egypt and Tunisia move towards full democracy. Economic support, including the rescheduling of loans and aid cash, is on the table along with political support for the fledgling governments.

Mr Cameron will tell leaders there is a risk of young men in places like Egypt, where unemployment is rife, turning to extremism in the wake of the collapse of tyrannical regimes. He will argue that bringing investment and jobs to the region will make the west safer as well as spread freedom.