The U.K. Parliament's Culture, Media and Sport Committee launched an inquiry on the prevalence of fake news on social media and the internet, according to a Jan. 30 news release.

The committee intends to determine the impact of fake news to the public's views and how people in different demographics respond to such news.

Furthermore, it seeks to identify the roles that search engines and social media platforms should play amid the increased accessibility to fake news.

"The growing phenomenon of fake news is a threat to democracy and undermines confidence in the media in general," committee chair Damian Collins MP said in a statement, adding that tech companies "need to help address the spreading of fake news on social media platforms."

Facebook Inc., for its part, redesigned the algorithm of its trending topics and plans to work with third-party fact-checking organizations, in its efforts to identify and warn users about misinformation on the social networking website.

The committee will be accepting written submissions for the inquiry until March 3.