Social media firms should be be liable for abuse: UK committee
Social media firms should be made liable for illegal content and there should be a new electoral law to counter the intimidation of MPs during elections, according to the UK’s independent Committee on Standards in Public Life. The body, which provides ethical advice to the prime minister, has recommended the changes, which would be easier to implement after Brexit, following an inquiry into the abuse of MPs during this year’s general election. The committee also called for social media companies to remove intimidatory material quickly and for police to be trained to investigate offences committed on social media.

In recent years, the intimidation experienced by Parliamentary candidates, and others in public life, has become a threat to the diversity, integrity, and vibrancy of representative democracy in the UK.

The Committee reports on its review of intimidation in public life, including Parliamentary candidates and others.

The Committee makes a package of recommendations for action to government, social media companies, political parties, the police, broadcast and print media, and MPs and Parliamentary candidates themselves.

The Government’s response to the review was published in March 2018.

Please note that the recommendation that ‘The political parties must work together to develop a joint code of conduct on intimidatory behaviour during election campaigns by December 2018’ has since been revised. The Committee decided at their October meeting that, in view of the continuing evidence of intimidation in public life, this joint standard should apply at all times and not just during periods of general election campaigns.