Technology and social media firms are allowing extremists to act with impunity and lack commitment in tackling the online terrorist threat, a senior British police officer said on Tuesday.
Mark Rowley, Britain’s top counter-terrorism officer, also criticised major communication service providers for failing to take action against extremists, saying they had failed to make a single direct referral to British police about terrorist activity on their sites.
“Online extremists seem to able to act with impunity, occupying spaces owned and managed by legitimate and very wealthy corporations,” Rowley told a security conference in London.
“They are effectively private tenants to their communication service provider landlords. In the real world, if a landlord knew their property was being used to plan or inspire terrorist attacks, you would expect them to show responsibility by informing the authorities.”