Social media platforms are being used to spread hate, abuse and extremism. This practice remains unchecked and, even where it is illegal, largely unpoliced.
The Home Affairs Committee report on hate crime (pdf), published in April 2017, found it “shockingly easy” to find examples of abuse online.
Recommendations were made to counter abusive content, including: clear and well-funded processes for removing content, better technological solutions, an updated legislative framework and holding social media companies to account.
Background
The Home Affairs Select Committee launched an inquiry into hate crime and its violent consequences in July 2016.
Written evidence was invited on:
- The effectiveness of current legislation and law enforcement policies for preventing and prosecuting hate crime and its associated violence
- The barriers that prevent individuals from reporting hate crime, and measures to improve reporting rates
- The role of social media companies and other online platforms in helping to identify online sources of hate crime and to prevent online hate incidents from escalating
- The role of the voluntary sector, community representatives, and other frontline organisations in challenging attitudes that underpin hate crime.
- Statistical trends in hate crime and how the recording, measurement and analysis of hate crime can be improved
- The type, extent and effectiveness of the support that is available to victims and their families and how it might be improved
The closing date for written submissions was 1 September 2016.
