UK warns Google, Twitter, Facebook to better fight hate speech

LONDON: UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd warned Facebook, Google and Twitter to improve monitoring of extremist and hate content after a panel of lawmakers urged her to consider making the hosting of such material a crime.

A report from Parliament’s cross party Home Affairs Committee, to be published on Monday, said the companies are “shamefully far” from having done enough to deal with illegal and dangerous content and was scornful of claims that there is little more they can do. It is “shocking” that Google’s YouTube subsidiary allows paid advertising to appear alongside videos created by terrorist groups, the panel said.

The report comes days after the UK government protested a decision by Twitter to stop letting security officials track terrorist-related posts.

While Rudd stopped short of agreeing with the committee’s recommendation to look at legislation, lawmakers are becoming more confrontational with Internet giants.