Anyone noticed the rise in polarisation in society?
Seen the recent spate of mass killers crediting online extremist material as their inspiration?
Heard people repeating anti-vaccine nonsense encouraging parents not to immunise their children?
How can we combat it?
THREAD 🧵
The internet is a powerful tool. Unfortunately, gone are the days where it’s main appeal was sharing cat videos. It’s now used to spread hate & misinformation, & where traditional publishers are subject to regulation & laws, large sections of the internet are like the Wild West.
Particularly Facebook. Secret Facebook groups exist with tens of thousands of members, invisible to all but those invited in, where sexism, racism, criminality & literally life threatening fake news (eg bleach enemas to ‘cure’ children’s autism) are spread & shared like wildfire.
These groups are invisible to the rest of us, and even to law enforcement. They exert huge influence over their members and make money for the platforms and fake news sites whose articles are shared, whilst putting children’s and minorities’ lives at risk.
One way to change this would be to make forum creators liable for the content they host. To put online forums on a footing with traditional publishers and gatherings in the real offline world, so online incitement, racism & defamation carry consequences for those promoting it.
In light of the news this week that anti-vaxx propaganda has contributed to measles now being a ‘thing’ again in the UK, @LucyMPowell wrote about her proposed bill, the Online Forums Bill, here:
You can read about the Bill itself here, I recommend you do.
hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-0…
It has cross party support, from at least one politician you love, and one you hate! As it should be. There are no sides in this.
It doesn’t have all the details prescribed, but does lay foundations for a practical framework to combat online extremism, which has to be a priority for the government.
Keep an eye out for it, and where you can, lend it your support & spread the word! 🙏
#OnlineForumsBill END
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