THE UK’s elections watchdog has called for "urgent action" after the warning from a Commons committee that fake news has plunged democracy into crisis with voters being systematically manipulated by campaigns of hate and disinformation.

The Electoral Commission’s call came after the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee rounded on tech giants such as Facebook, Twitter and Google for acting "irresponsibly" over data collection and called for new laws to make them accountable for the content on their sites.

A Commission spokesman said: "We echo the report's call to modernise electoral law and to give the Commission the powers needed to ensure transparency, provide confidence in the system and deter those who may seek to breach electoral law.

"The report raises other interesting proposals which we look forward to exploring in greater detail over the coming months."

MPs said that social media users' behaviour was being "modified and changed" at the hands of the tech companies and there was currently no sign of the practice ending.

New laws should be introduced to clamp down on the "Wild West" social media world, they urged.

The wide-ranging investigation shone a light on everything from Facebook's apparent failures to stop the inciting of hatred against Rohingya Muslims in Burma to the "intractability" of tech companies in recognising Russian meddling in elections.

Conservative MP Damian Collins, the committee Chairman, said: "We are facing nothing less than a crisis in our democracy based on the systematic manipulation of data to support the relentless targeting of citizens, without their consent, by campaigns of disinformation and messages of hate.

"In this inquiry we have pulled back the curtain on the secretive world of the tech giants, which have acted irresponsibly with the vast quantities of data they collect from their users.

"Despite concerns being raised, companies like Facebook made it easy for developers to scrape user data and to deploy it in other campaigns without their knowledge or consent.”

He claimed that throughout the committee’s inquiry social media companies had tried to frustrate scrutiny and gave obfuscating answers.

"The light of transparency must be allowed to shine on their operations and they must be made responsible, and liable, for the way in which harmful and misleading content is shared on their sites," added the Folkestone MP.

Tech firms tried to dodge scrutiny throughout the parliamentary probe and key figures were lambasted for failing to give evidence or being evasive when they did.

The UK Government is expected to publish a White Paper later this year on proposals to reform laws to make the internet and social media safer.

In its report, the committee called for a new category of tech company to be introduced that plugs the gap between platform and publisher, which firms fall through. It would force social media companies to take action over harmful and illegal content.

MPs said the tech firms had profited from posts that lead to high levels of engagement.

The companies, the committee explained, should be subject to audits of their security mechanisms and algorithms to ensure they were operating responsibly.

Concerns were also raised about the numbers of fake accounts on Facebook and Twitter, which could mean advertisers face being defrauded if they were paying for services on the basis users were real.

The committee has now asked the Competition and Markets Authority to consider conducting an audit on the social media advertising market.

Mr Collins added: "Data crimes are real crimes with real victims. This is a watershed moment in terms of people realising they themselves are the product, not just the user of a free service. Their rights over their data must be protected.

"The first steps in tackling disinformation and fake news are to identify the scale of the problem and the areas where immediate action is required."

Labour’s Tom Watson said: "The integrity of our democracy is vital and must be defended.

"Labour called for increased powers for the Electoral Commission during the passage of the Data Protection Bill on digital imprints, the disclosure of funding sources and settings for targeted adverts and increasing the commission's investigatory powers.

"These calls were rejected by the Conservatives,” declared the Shadow Digital Secretary.

"The Government needs to wake up to the new challenges we face and finally update our electoral laws for the modern campaigning environment. It must ensure that future campaigns and elections cannot be abused or manipulated," added Mr Watson.

A Whitehall spokeswoman said: "The Government takes disinformation very seriously as with all types of online manipulation and internet harms. That is why we have said we will come forward with new online safety laws to make sure the UK is the safest place to be online.

"We note the Committee's report and will consider its final recommendations," he added.

A key figure in the Brexit campaign, who refused to give evidence to the fake news probe, caused anger among MPs when he broke the committee’s embargo and posted its findings online two days ahead of its publication date, declaring: "F*** the charlatans."

Dominic Cummings, the former Director of Vote Leave, repeatedly defied MPs' demands to give evidence to the inquiry and accused them of "grandstanding".

For its part, the committee criticised Mr Cummings in its report for refusing their requests to appear before them and an official summons. It has now referred him to the Committee of Privileges, which could hold him in contempt of Parliament.

The committee’s report stated: "Mr Cummings' contemptuous behaviour is unprecedented in the history of this committee's inquiries and underlines concerns about the difficulties of enforcing co-operation with Parliamentary scrutiny in the modern age."

Mr Cummings was just one of a number of figures who were heavily criticised in the report.

MPs attacked Arron Banks and Andy Wigmore, the main players in the Leave.EU referendum campaign, on a range of issues.

They said allegations being investigated by the Information Commissioner's Office that the group used insurance data from companies owned by donor Mr Banks were "extremely serious".

The committee also looked into claims about Mr Banks's meetings with Russian officials, including ambassador to the UK Alexander Yakovenko, to discuss gold and diamond acquisitions, the passing of confidential documents, and the exchange of information about the EU referendum.

Mr Banks and Mr Wigmore misled the committee on the number of meetings that took place with the Russian embassy and walked out of its evidence session to avoid scrutiny about the content of the meetings, the committee said.

The report said: "Mr Banks seemed to want to hide the extent of his contacts with Russia, while his spokesman Andy Wigmore's statements have been unreliable - by his own admission - and cannot be taken at face value.

"Mr Wigmore is a self-confessed liar and, as a result, little significance can be attached to anything that he says.

"It is unclear whether Mr Banks profited from business deals arising from meetings arranged by Russian officials. We understand that the National Crime Agency (NCA) is investigating these matters."

It noted how Mr Banks was believed to be the largest individual donor in UK political history, handing over a reported £8.4 million.

The committee said it was unclear where the money for Mr Banks's donations came from. "He failed to satisfy us that his own donations had, in fact, come from sources within the UK."

MPs also rounded on Alexander Nix, the former Chief Executive officer at Cambridge Analytica, the company at the heart of the data scandal.

They said he was "evasive" at both hearings and the "standard of his answers fell well below those expected from a CEO of an organisation" and he "misled" them in certain areas.

And they again called on Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to appear before the committee to "answer the many outstanding questions to which Facebook has not responded adequately".