Blaming big tech for the New Zealand atrocity is a cop out for politicians

Last Friday, we awoke to news of the horror in New Zealand. A white-supremacist terrorist had opened fire on two mosques, killing 50 worshipers as they attended Friday prayers. He killed them because of their religion. And he did it live on Facebook.

The video of the murderous rampage spread quickly over YouTube as well as Facebook. When they finally realised what was happening, the world’s biggest tech companies found themselves engaged in a game of digital whack-a-mole. Every time they removed one version of the clip, others appeared. Facebook has since conceded that its AI system failed to automatically detect the video. It also said that it did not deal with the video as fast as it might have because it did not involve suicide. However, it announced yesterday that it was changing its policies, so a wider range of content is dealt with quickly.

Somewhat predictably, politicians responded to the issue by demanding that “something must be done” by the tech companies. While the video was still spreading, Labour’s Deputy Leader Tom Watson tweeted that YouTube should suspend all uploads until it could handle the situation.

Now, I do not disagree with the general point. The likes of Facebook and YouTube do need to do something to tackle the hate that spreads on their platforms. Lots of cases are difficult and raise legitimate free speech issues. Communities of far-right fascists and live streams of mass murder are, however, about as clear cut as you can get.

Terrorists should not think they can get publicity for their vile views courtesy of social media platforms. That was true when the killers of Fusilier Lee Rigby shouted their message into a phone’s camera as Rigby lay dying in the street in 2013, and it’s true now. The idea that the biggest, best resourced and most innovative firms in the world cannot navigate these issues is, quite frankly, laughable.

Yet, the politicians’ calls left me cold. As well as looking at how this kind of ideology spreads, we need to tackle the root cause of hate too, and that falls squarely at the feet of MPs and other political leaders.

For starters, far-right de-radicalisation efforts must be increased and improved. This is needed. Prevent, the UK government’s de-radicalisation scheme, saw a 36% increase in referrals related to far-right extremism in 2018.Often when people say they want politicians to deal with the issues that cause far-right racism or nationalism they mean politicians should be more anti-immigration. I do not advocate a pandering to such populist tendencies. Not only is it the polar opposite of what I actually think, I also consider it would be deeply unhelpful to pretend that there is any merit in arguments peddled by such people. In a poll conducted in July that year, Hope Not Hate found that 35% of Brits considered Islam incompatible with the British way of life. Politicians should spend more time worrying about how Islamophobic ideas have become so widespread, alongside the rise in other forms of racism, instead of taking opportunistic swipes at tech firms.

They need to loudly and proudly make the case for multiculturalism. They need to stop shuffling in embarrassment when people talk about immigration and explain why it is good for the country. New Zealand’s highly impressive Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, provided a good template for this. Following the attack she tweeted: “Many of those affected will be members of our migrant communities – New Zealand is their home – they are us.”

Of course, politicians need to make sure the police have the powers, and, yes, the resources, to combat this loathsome worldview at source. That does not mean prosecuting thought crimes. It means focussing unremittingly on finding, exposing, and breaking-up far-right groups who wish to bring nothing but terror and pain to minority communities.

I totally understand that hatred festers, grows and spreads online. While it has always existed neo-Naizis, nationalists and assorted fascists no longer need weird meetups and newsletters to find each other. It would be naive in the extreme to pretend that the ease with which these people can engage online in forums bears no relation to their increased prominence. But ultimately we need to stop people wanting to go there, or at least find them quickly when they do.

The answers are complicated, and I certainly do not have them all. But what I do know is just blaming the tech firms is too easy. It’s time for the politicians to step up and take action.