50 MPs tell social media to combat online abuse
MORE than 50 Tory MPs today urge internet social media giants to act to tackle the tide of abuse online.
In a joint letter to Facebook,Twitter, TikTok, Reddit and Snapchat, the backbenchers demand an identification system to ensure trolls can be tracked down and prosecuted.
They also want a “three strikes and you’re out” rule so the worst offenders are banned from social media for life.
Specific terms and racist terminology should be recognised by the social media algorithms and there should be a review by a UK-based human team to ensure that racist abuse online is correctly identified and dealt with.
Their plea follows calls for a new “David’s Law”, named after murdered Tory MP Sir David Amess, to curb taunts online by ending anonymity.
A string of MPs have spoken out about the abuse, including death threats, they receive following his killing at a constituency surgery. Today’s letter has been organised by Saqib Bhatti, Tory MP for Meriden, who was appalled by the racist abuse of some England footballers following the team’s defeat in the Euro 2020 tournament.
His letter accuses the firms of “inaction” on the issue so far.
Other signatories include former ministers Steve Baker, Karen Bradley, Damian Green, Robert Halfon, Caroline Nokes and Andrea Leadsom.
Mr Bhatti said: “I am very pleased that so many fellow MPs have backed my letter today. Sadly, abuse and discrimination are very commonplace on these platforms and the systems in place to tackle them are too slow and at times ineffective.
“Some of my female colleagues have received the worst abuse I have ever seen. This is an opportunity for leading social media companies to prove their commitment to keeping people safe online.”
His letter comes ahead of the return of the Government’s Online Safety Bill for a second reading in the House of Commons before Christmas.
A draft of the Bill is currently being scrutinised by MPs.
The letter says: “Sadly, if you are in public life, whether as a sportsperson or a politician, you are seen as fair game. Abuse which is not tolerated in the physical world is being allowed to fester in the online world.”