UK Prime Minister: Silicon Valley can and should do more against online extremism
Following Wednesday’s terrorist attack in London, British Prime Minister Theresa May’s spokesman said internet companies such as Google and Facebook “can and should do more” to counter online extremism.
The spokesperson further stated on Friday that the British government is already doing its part: “The government and security services are doing everything they can and it is clear that the companies behind social media need to do more.” Furthermore, ‘the ball is now in their court’ when it comes to formulating a response to this.
The representative from 10 Downing Street, as the Prime Minister’s office is also known, says the British government has been in talks with the companies for some time about how exactly this should be poured into the barrel, but he does not go into further detail. possible solutions. Boris Johnson, the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, says, among other things, that companies “should look at the stuff that goes on their websites.”
The spokesperson did not make any statements about whether laws could possibly be passed to counter extremist online material. It is preferred that social media itself prevent such material from appearing online or that it disappears as soon as possible after posting.
Although the statements are made in response to last Wednesday’s attack, Theresa May’s office does not want to imply that online extremist material has played a key role in the radicalization of the perpetrator. The comment is intended to be more general. Five people, including a police officer and the perpetrator, were killed in the attack.
Facebook responded to the statements by saying that this type of content is always removed quickly after the administrators are notified. Relevant information is also always passed on to authorities and the company is in continuous consultation with the British government to look at what can be done to better combat extremist content on social media. The social medium has more than a billion active users. Twitter and Google declined to comment.
It is not only in the United Kingdom that large tech companies are faced with increasing pressure to regulate their online platforms more strictly. Earlier this month, Germany’s Justice Minister introduced a bill to force internet companies to take tougher action against such content, subject to fines of up to EUR 50 million each. This week, advertisers also appeared to be putting pressure on YouTube, a subsidiary of what is now called Alphabet but better known as Google.