Theresa May urged to prosecute web giants over abusive content
Theresa May urged to prosecute web giants over abusive
content
MPs call for prosecutions as part of a strict regime for
social media companies first suggested in the Conservative manifesto.
Facebook, Twitter and Google will all appear during the
two day hearing
19:56, UK, Tuesday 12 December 2017
Social media companies should be prosecuted like publishers
if they fail to remove abuse content, an influential committee is to tell the
Government.
Social media companies are not currently regulated as
publishers but are instead considered as platforms as they have limited control
over the content they host.
This means that racist, extremist and child abuse content
on Facebook, Google or Twitter does not receive the same sanctions as if it
were published by a news organisation.
In a report being presented to Theresa May tomorrow, the
Committee on Standards in Public Life will call for a change of the law to
allow social media companies to be prosecuted like publishers, according to The
Times.
The committee, which advises the Prime Minister, has
recently investigated the intimidation of Parliamentary candidates and received
evidence relating to June's General Election from Facebook, Google and Twitter.
Jim Killock, executive director of Open Rights Group,
described the call to censure web giants as "an attempt to make Mark
Zuckerberg a national censor".
He said: "Facebook and Twitter will censor legal
material because they are scared of fines.
"They are the worst people to judge right and wrong.
Theresa May is in danger of removing people's right to a proper legal
decision."
The committee's call comes months after the Conservatives
made a manifesto pledge for a Digital Charter, which may include a move to tax
social media sites to pay for action to tackle online bullying.
Confirmed in the Queen's Speech, the Digital Charter has
ignited concerns from digital rights groups about the possible implications for
civil liberties.
In the manifesto, the party said it would also introduce
sanctions for companies that fail to meet their legal duties over content that
is considered to be a breach of law.
The difficulties in establishing whether content could be
illegal or not were highlighted earlier this year when YouTube deleted an
archive of video evidence of potential war crimes in Syria.
In 2012, Twitter user Paul Chambers had his conviction
overturned in the High Court after a joke threat on the messaging platform:
"Crap! Robin Hood airport is closed. You've got a week and a bit to get
your s*** together, otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!"
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