(Cardiff South and Penarth)
(Lab/Co-op): I too visited mosques and had contact with
local Muslim leaders on Friday, and there was a palpable sense of
fear. I praise South Wales Police and our police and crime
commissioner for responding so quickly. I was particularly
disturbed to speak to young people who told me that they were
watching the video of the horrific attacks in New Zealand. We
have to do everything we can to prevent young people from having
to see such horrific content. On that note, I have to push the
Minister and the Home Secretary further. I do not doubt their
sincerity in wanting to deal with these issues, but they say that
we need to wait for the online harms White Paper. I have
previously raised with both of them the issue of an organisation
called Radio Aryan, which is available on Twitter, Facebook and
YouTube. I have also raised this matter directly with the social
media companies, and it is absolutely clear that they do not give
a damn. That content is still online this morning. It advocates
antisemitism, Islamophobia, homophobia and white supremacy. Why
is it still on there and what are the Government going to do to
remove it?
The Minister for Security and Economic Crime (Mr Ben
Wallace): As I said earlier, one of the reasons that
some of these things remain online is that the servers of the
companies are often abroad and out of our jurisdiction. We are
seeking the powers to do something about that through the online
harms White Paper. If these companies have a nexus in the UK, it
gives us more power. If they do not, we have to look at other
technical issues and see whether we can do this another way. The
White Paper is imminent, and I am happy to meet the hon.
Gentleman and any Member from across the House to discuss whether
they think it is too soft or too hard, or what needs to be done
to improve it.
The hon. Gentleman points out one of the real challenges. The
United States’ first amendment protects freedom of speech. We
often approach companies in America asking them to take down
websites and so on, and we get a first amendment response—that
is, that they are obliged to United States law and the first
amendment. That is why we ultimately have to seek an
international solution to go alongside whatever regulation we
look at here.
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