British MPs slam social media over extremist posts
LONDON: Social media were heavily criticised by British lawmakers yesterday for failing to do enough to remove illegal and extremist material posted on their sites, and for not preventing it appearing.
Twitter, YouTube and Facebook were criticised over their moderation policies by a committee after high-profile cases where violent or abusive material were posted and, in some cases, not removed even after they were notified.
The committee's report said it had found repeated examples of extremist material, including from banned terrorist and neo-Nazi groups, not being removed.
"Social media companies' failure to deal with illegal and dangerous material online is a disgrace," said Home Affairs Select Committee chairman Yvette Cooper.
"They have been asked repeatedly to come up with better systems... Yet, repeatedly they have failed to do so. It is shameful."
The government said it expects to see social media identify and remove "terrorist propaganda". - REUTERS
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