PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Social Media: Radicalism (24 April 2018)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent meetings he has had with social media companies to discuss the (a) prevalence, (b) removal and (c) prevention of hate speech and other extreme content on social media platforms.

Asked by:
Dame Angela Eagle (Labour)

On 19 December 2017 the Minister responsible for Hate Crime Baroness Williams attended a seminar on online hate that was arranged by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The seminar included representatives from Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter. Officials will continue to engage with social media companies about what more they can do to tackle online hate crime.

The Home Office is also engaging social media companies in relation to wider harmful content.

Officials meet regularly with companies involved in the establishment of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, to seek continued improvements in their response to preventing terrorist use of the internet. In addition, officials are also reaching out to smaller companies to assist them in their efforts of stopping terrorist exploitation of their platforms.

Officials are also working with the internet industry to tackle child sexual exploitation and abuse online. This includes the removal of illegal images and combating grooming.

Answered by:
Victoria Atkins (Conservative)
30 April 2018