The law must catch up with internet giants

CHILDREN addicted to internet gambling... Paedophiles swapping perverted fantasies, which Twitter refuses to block... Hate-filled trolling of parliamentary candidates, directed overwhelmingly at Tories...

Fake news, hard- core pornography, cyberbullying and terrorist training videos available freely at the click of a mouse...

How much longer can websites and social media giants such as Facebook – accused by one of its own former executives of ‘ripping apart the fabric of how our society works’ – operate above the law?

This paper does not have definitive solutions to the challenge of protecting the public. But it becomes ever clearer that technology is undermining our civilisation and democracy in ways we don’t yet understand, while legislators lag far behind.

Yes, the internet has brought many benefits to mankind – along with massive rewards to the arrogant, tax-dodging firms that control its most popular sites.

But ways can and must be found to hold these giants to account for the corruption, filth, hatred and lies from which they profit.

With their vast resources, they have the means to police the material they spread. The sooner they are forced to do so, the better for democracy and society.