Someone said they wanted to see me trapped in a burning car, and watch flames melt my flesh

IT’S a week since we lost our beloved friend and colleague David and, until now, I haven’t been able to fully put into words my reaction to his tragic, brutal death. I’m sure every MP in Westminster experienced the same chill of dread down their spine when they heard the news.

If you’re in the public eye, and particularly if you’re a woman, death threats and online abuse are the backdrop to your daily life. It’s a dark, foreboding cloud that follows you everywhere you go. David’s death has brought into sharp relief the danger that MPs face on a near-constant basis.

As we walk into work, we pass the plaque in memory of police officer Keith Palmer, who lost his life in the Westminster attack. Once on the chamber’s green benches, we look up to the plaque in memory of Jo Cox.

David was just doing his job and his death was an attack on democracy. While our efforts to introduce legislation to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online might not have changed what happened last week, the heinous events have highlighted two awful facts. The online arena remains the home of disgusting, often anonymous abuse, and a place where people are radicalised.

The abuse isn’t limited to one group. As we saw with Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka this summer, black football players are bombarded with racist bile every time they step on the pitch. And female celebrities are subjected to misogynistic hatred.

Online hate has poisoned public life. It’s often unbearable. And it has to end.

We have the legislation to do it. Our Online Safety Bill is one of the most ambitious pieces of legislation in the internet age. No other country has published a bill that will go so far to make big tech accountable for the content on their platforms, and for the way they promote it.

First, this Bill will force tech giants to swiftly identify and remove illegal content.

Secondly, platforms will have to prevent children from accessing harmful content like pornography, and enforce age limits.

We’ve worked with the Law Commission to advise on how we could expand the definition of illegal content to include the promotion of self-harm – something I feel very strongly about.

Right now, too many young people are tempted into suicide chat rooms, or their apps are plastered with content encouraging them to cut themselves, or starve themselves into anorexia. We can’t allow the innocence of childhood to be erased by an algorithm.

The question of anonymity has dominated the conversation about online abuse over the past week. Rest assured, this bill will end anonymous abuse, because it will end abuse, full stop.

If it’s racist, if it’s misogynistic, if it’s anti-Semitic – if it’s any kind of toxic content that breaks a social media company’s terms and conditions, whether hiding behind a fake name or not, it will have to be removed.

But I recognise we may want to strengthen the tools we have to fight this abuse.

The Government has decided to re-examine how our legislation can go even further to ensure the biggest social media companies properly protect users from anonymous abuse. And while some trolls may be anonymous, they can be traced when the right information is shared.

I’m speaking from experience here. I once received a truly hateful post from someone saying they wanted to see me trapped in a burning car, and watch ‘the flames melt the flesh on my face’. It was posted anonymously, but the author was tracked down to a dorm room at Oxford University, albeit slowly.

The police already have the powers, but social media companies need to hand over the data more quickly and rapidly remove the content themselves. Finally, this bill will force platforms to stop amplifying hateful content via their algorithms.

And here’s the bottom line. If social media companies fail in any of those duties, they’ll face a financial hammer blow. Ofcom will be able to fine them up to 10 per cent of their annual global turnover.

But big tech can – and must – do more right now. These are some of the most technologically sophisticated, wealthiest companies in the world. They have the tools to tackle hatred. Too many times, they’ve jeopardised people for profit.

enough is enough. Social media companies have no excuses. And once this Bill passes through parliament, they will have no choice.