Net giants could be hit with fines

INTERNET giants could be penalised through taxes if they fail to co-operate with Government efforts to fight terrorism and tackle online extremism, a minister has said.

Ben Wallace warned Britain is the most vulnerable it has been for 100 years due to “radicalising” online content and “patience is running out fast” with companies that put profit before public safety.

Obstruction and inaction by social media companies, whether it is by blocking access to encrypted messages or leaving extremist content on their sites, is costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds, the Minister of State for Security said. He told the Sunday Times “ruthless profiteers” will not “get away” with leaving police and law enforcement to repair the damage done by radicalising content and revealed tax measures are being considered as a means to make them cooperate.

Such a tax would be similar to the windfall tax imposed on excess profits of privatised utilities by the government in 1997, or the levy placed on banks in 1981, the newspaper said.

While internet companies have taken steps to tackle child abuse online, they “don’t seem to be making the same effort” against extremism, Mr Wallace said. His warning comes after a parliamentary inquiry into fake news criticised Twitter and Facebook for failing to properly act against Russian attempts to influence British politics.

MP Damian Collins, chairman of the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, said Facebook had appeared to have done “no work” to fully root out accounts that could be linked to Russian-backed agencies during the EU referendum.

Meanwhile Twitter was condemned by the committee for a “completely inadequate” response to the investigation.