Videos of hate still appear on YouTube after MPs’ warnings
GOOGLE failed to take down neo-Nazi videos from YouTube despite repeated warnings, prompting MPs to demand that the Government takes action against the internet giant.
Recruitment videos for banned far-Right group National Action remained on the site until last night despite a promise by Google to remove its offensive material.
While they were finally taken down after the Daily Mail contacted Google, other offensive films, including one showing how to tie a hangman’s noose, remain online.
One National Action film, which included details on how to join the racist movement, said: ‘Will you fight for your people? We will not stop until the alien has been driven out.
‘Remember stranger whose land you are in, because there are men and women who will fight to keep it pure. Britain is ours, the rest must go.’ In a second video, the group said: ‘We continue the battle for the final victory of our race.’
On Tuesday Google chiefs assured the home affairs committee they would work harder to remove offensive material and agreed content by National Action should be taken down. But committee chairman Yvette Cooper wrote to the firm on Friday after the group’s videos remained available.
She wrote: ‘The committee should not have to make further complaints to you to ensure that all videos from this proscribed organisation are now properly removed.’
Last night after the Mail found two National Action clips were still accessible, Miss Cooper said she would ask Home Office minister Sarah Newton and Solicitor General Robert Buckland to take action against the firm in a committee hearing tomorrow.
Miss Cooper said: ‘How many times does this need to be raised with them before Google get their act together?’
National Action became the first far-Right group to be banned under terrorism laws in December by Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who described it as a ‘racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic organisation that glorifies violence and promotes a vile ideology’. In her letter to Google vice president Peter Barron on Friday, Miss Cooper said it was ‘astonishing’ the firm had not removed the content, adding: ‘The lack of social responsibility Google is showing towards hate crime on YouTube is extremely troubling.’
The two National Action videos were last night finally taken down. A Google spokesman said: ‘We have clear policies against inciting violence or hatred and remove con- tent that is illegal or breaks our rules when made aware of it.’
But other clips were found on YouTube showing images relating to self-harm, eating disorders and suicide. Google removed some of the content when alerted by the Mail, but refused to take down a video, which has been watched more than 700,000 times, demonstrating how to tie a hangman’s noose because it was ‘instructional’.
Alarmingly, dozens of users commented on the video claiming they intended to use it to commit suicide. Stephen Buckley, of mental health charity Mind, said it is ‘vital to recognise the huge danger’ of websites promoting self-harm, suicide and eating disorders.