Sites are failing on terror, say MPs

THE COMMUNITY Security Trust has welcomed a parliamentary report which accuses Facebook, Twitter and YouTube of “consciously failing” to combat promotion of terrorism on their sites.

The Commons’ Home Affairs Select Committee said social media platforms had become “the vehicle of choice in spreading propaganda and the recruiting platforms for terrorism”.

In a report published yesterday, the committee said it was “alarming that these companies have teams of only a few hundred employees to monitor networks of billions of accounts”.

It said Twitter “does not even proactively report extremist content to law enforcement agencies.

“These companies are hiding behind their supranational legal status to pass the parcel of responsibility and refusing to act responsibly in case they damage their brands.”

Mark Gardner, CST communications director, said the charity had submitted written evidence to the committee about its own experiences with the firms.

He said CST was “glad to see that the report has hit upon the role of social media providers in facilitating the spread of propaganda and incitement”.