Stop vile web abuse against women, May urges the G7
WEB giants such as Facebook and Twitter must automatically remove vile abuse aimed at women, Theresa May will demand today.
The Prime Minister will urge companies to utilise the same technology used to take down terrorist propaganda to remove rape threats and harassment.
Speaking at the G7 summit in Quebec, Mrs May will call on firms to do more to tackle content promoting and depicting violence against women and girls, including illegal violent pornography, and will demand the automatic removal of adverts that are linked to people-trafficking.
At the meeting of the leaders of the G7 nations – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US – Mrs May will argue they must ensure women can use the web without fear of online rape threats, harassment, cyberstalking, blackmail or vile comments.
She will say: ‘What is illegal offline is illegal online and I am calling on world leaders to take serious action to deal with this, just like we are doing in the UK with our commitment to legislate on
‘What is illegal offline is illegal online’
online harms such as cyber-stalking and harassment.’
The Prime Minister will acknowledge online giants have made serious efforts in using advanced technologies to tackle online terrorist propaganda, highlighting the fact that, after pressure from the UK and the US, Facebook removed 1.9million pieces of IS and Al Qaeda content in the first quarter of this year – almost twice as much as the previous quarter.
She will also urge fellow leaders to look at how they can use legislation to deal with the perpetrators of such abuse.
Earlier this year, the Government announced plans to introduce laws to tackle online abuse and set clear responsibilities for social media companies to keep citizens safe.
Ministers are considering a mandatory social media code of practice.
The summit is expected to be overshadowed by the looming trade war triggered by Donald Trump and will be the first opportunity for Mrs May to confront the US President in person.