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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/07/former-culture-secretary-maria-miller-police-powers-to-tackle-online-abuse
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| Tory MP says social media firms should stop abuse or pay for policing | Tory MP says social media firms should stop abuse or pay for policing |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A senior Tory MP is calling for a levy on social media companies to pay for the policing of online abuse if they fail to do more to tackle the crimes taking place on their platforms. | A senior Tory MP is calling for a levy on social media companies to pay for the policing of online abuse if they fail to do more to tackle the crimes taking place on their platforms. |
| Maria Miller, who was at the forefront of creating the new revenge-porn law, believes a dialogue needs to start now with social media companies where online abuse is generated and spread. | |
| “We need to start the dialogue, to say to them: ‘What more can you be doing to tackle the scale of the problem?’ because there is a desperate need for action. If necessary after that we need to put a levy on those organisations to pay for the policing of this. | “We need to start the dialogue, to say to them: ‘What more can you be doing to tackle the scale of the problem?’ because there is a desperate need for action. If necessary after that we need to put a levy on those organisations to pay for the policing of this. |
| Related: Senior Tory calls on government to overhaul internet abuse laws | Related: Senior Tory calls on government to overhaul internet abuse laws |
| “The police are telling me they cannot cope with the scale of the crime that is being carried out online, in particular online abuse, whether that is image-based sexual abuse, or whether that is homophobic or transphobic hate crime online. They cannot deal with the scale of it and in other similar situations it has become necessary to talk to the organisations where the crime is being generated to establish how they can start to foot the bill.” | “The police are telling me they cannot cope with the scale of the crime that is being carried out online, in particular online abuse, whether that is image-based sexual abuse, or whether that is homophobic or transphobic hate crime online. They cannot deal with the scale of it and in other similar situations it has become necessary to talk to the organisations where the crime is being generated to establish how they can start to foot the bill.” |
| Football clubs and sporting venues are some of the private organisations that pay a fee to the police to provide security at their events – an example Miller believes could be used in discussions with social media companies. “We have to look at the law to strengthen the sanctions that are available and we also have to turn a very sharp spotlight on to the platforms to show up those that are not taking this seriously,” she said. | Football clubs and sporting venues are some of the private organisations that pay a fee to the police to provide security at their events – an example Miller believes could be used in discussions with social media companies. “We have to look at the law to strengthen the sanctions that are available and we also have to turn a very sharp spotlight on to the platforms to show up those that are not taking this seriously,” she said. |
| Miller will use a Commons debate on Thursday to call for the government to set out specific laws to tackle online abuse – which she believes is now spilling over into the offline world. She is calling for better training for police officers and zero tolerance for hate crime online and offline. | Miller will use a Commons debate on Thursday to call for the government to set out specific laws to tackle online abuse – which she believes is now spilling over into the offline world. She is calling for better training for police officers and zero tolerance for hate crime online and offline. |
| The MP also intends to bring forward amendments to the government’s digital economy bill, which was published on Wednesday, to help police more easily bring prosecutions. | The MP also intends to bring forward amendments to the government’s digital economy bill, which was published on Wednesday, to help police more easily bring prosecutions. |
| She is calling for the government to create a proper strategy to tackle online abuse – something which it has failed to do despite the increasing scale of the problem. | She is calling for the government to create a proper strategy to tackle online abuse – something which it has failed to do despite the increasing scale of the problem. |
| Related: When women can be misogynist trolls, we need a feminist internet | Polly Toynbee | |
| “We have got a very real problem with online abuse in this country,” she said. “What we need is a strategy to deal with it and the government has so far taken a piecemeal approach. The scale of criminal activity that is going on is completely unmanageable. We can’t turn a blind eye to it any longer. And I think it is starting to spill over into the face-to-face world.” | “We have got a very real problem with online abuse in this country,” she said. “What we need is a strategy to deal with it and the government has so far taken a piecemeal approach. The scale of criminal activity that is going on is completely unmanageable. We can’t turn a blind eye to it any longer. And I think it is starting to spill over into the face-to-face world.” |
| Miller cited the rise in hate crime in the last week as potentially being linked to the levels of online abuse being perpetrated unchecked. “It would be interesting to know how much work is being done to understand whether there is a relationship between the increases in hate crime that we are seeing on our streets and the amount of hate crime that is perpetrated online. We cannot separate the two worlds,” she said. | Miller cited the rise in hate crime in the last week as potentially being linked to the levels of online abuse being perpetrated unchecked. “It would be interesting to know how much work is being done to understand whether there is a relationship between the increases in hate crime that we are seeing on our streets and the amount of hate crime that is perpetrated online. We cannot separate the two worlds,” she said. |
| Miller’s call for action comes after a senior police officer told the Guardian the law needed to change to enable police forces to better tackle the scale of online abuse, which was threatening to overwhelm law enforcement. | Miller’s call for action comes after a senior police officer told the Guardian the law needed to change to enable police forces to better tackle the scale of online abuse, which was threatening to overwhelm law enforcement. |
| Her motion, which will be debated in the Commons on Thursday, reads: “This house notes the increasing number of cases where the internet, social media and mobile phone technology are used to bully, harass, intimidate and humiliate individuals including children and vulnerable adults; calls on the government to ensure that clear legislation is in place that recognises the true impact and nature of online abuse, as distinct to offline abuse; and further calls on the government to put in place appropriate legal and criminal sanctions, police training, guidance to the CPS and education for young people relating to such abuse.” | Her motion, which will be debated in the Commons on Thursday, reads: “This house notes the increasing number of cases where the internet, social media and mobile phone technology are used to bully, harass, intimidate and humiliate individuals including children and vulnerable adults; calls on the government to ensure that clear legislation is in place that recognises the true impact and nature of online abuse, as distinct to offline abuse; and further calls on the government to put in place appropriate legal and criminal sanctions, police training, guidance to the CPS and education for young people relating to such abuse.” |