Minister slams 'disturbing' and 'disgusting' online chat rooms exposed by the Manchester Evening News
He vowed to 'go after' these sickening online spaces
A government minister has called far-right online chat rooms exposed by the Manchester Evening News 'disturbing' and disgusting'.
Science, innovation and technology secretary Peter Kyle has praised the M.E.N. investigation which exposed the forums filled with hate, promising that action will be taken on any illegal content. The Labour minister also said 'it's great' that there have been arrests.
It comes after police investigating neo-Nazis who were caught celebrating Adolf Hitler's birthday in an Oldham pub arrested nine suspects following a series of dramatic dawn raids in May which uncovered an arsenal of replica guns and a Nazi-era gas canister.
All of the suspects have been bailed for three months under strict conditions which ban contact and gatherings in large groups.
The police operation follows an M.E.N. exposé of north west members of the fringe far-right extremist group British Movement who pulled out Nazi flags and a cake decorated with a swastika at a gathering at the Duke of Edinburgh pub in Royton, on Saturday April 19.
A post on the group's Telegram feed revealed that the purpose of the meeting was to celebrate the '136th Birthday of Uncle A'.
Other far-right online forums were also exposed by the M.E.N. in an investigation into sick chat rooms being promoted across the city.
Stickers found on lampposts, signs and bus stops were revealed to be directing people via QR codes to online forums filled with hate.
The chat rooms, which vary depending on the QR code on the stickers, are filled with antisemitism, racism, Islamophobia and xenophobia which is posted on an almost hourly basis alongside neo-Nazi ideology and White Supremacy conspiracy theories.
However, it is not clear whether any of the content posted in these chat rooms is illegal - and if anything can be done about it.
Nevertheless, speaking to the M.E.N., Mr Kyle vowed to 'go after' these spaces using new powers in the Online Safety Act.
He said: "Firstly, a real credit to your journalism for exposing this in the first place. Secondly, it is great that there have been arrests.
"This is disgusting, it is disturbing and we need to root out this kind of activity. We now have a lot of powers at our disposal.
"The first is that illegal content must be removed by platforms. If they don't, they face criminal sanction.
"These are new powers and I am looking to Ofcom about how they are being enforced."
He added: "If the powers that are newly emerging via the Online Safety Act do leave areas that are untouched by law, then I'll be looking very closely at it going forward.
"But at the moment I think there are powers there that could really get a grip on some of this activity and I'm looking very closely at how it's exercised."
During a visit to MediaCityUK in Salford, Mr Kyle told the M.E.N. that criminal activity moving online is a 'challenge' for authorities.
However, he said that new powers in the Online Safety Act which came into effect last year means the authorities can do more.
Under the Act, online platforms must remove illegal content or face criminal consequences. Mr Kyle told the M.E.N. that Ofcom, the independent regulator which is now responsible for making sure illegal content is taken down, enforces the Act in a 'proactive way'.
He said that intelligence and law enforcement agencies also monitor online activity alongside various government departments.
The Labour minister pointed to action taken against websites offering 'suicide services' within days of the Act coming into force.
He said the new powers coming into effect next month will also mean that all platforms must make sure content is age-appropriate.
He said: "The combination of tackling illegal activity and illegal content and making it age-appropriate are big steps forward. If there is more work to do afterwards, then I'll do it.
"Am I worried? Yes. Am I concerned that there are pockets that we're currently not able to find and get to? Yes.
"But I will keep my foot down on the accelerator pedal until all parts of the internet are made safe and that freedom of expression is always protected, but criminal activity is tackled wherever it emerges, offline and online."
An Ofcom spokesperson said: "Duties on platforms to tackle illegal content and activity under the Online Safety Act came into force in March.
"That means platforms must take steps to reduce the risk of illegal material appearing, and act quickly to remove it when they become aware of it.
"We’re currently proactively assessing platforms’ compliance with these new duties, and those who fail to introduce appropriate measures to protect UK users from illegal content should expect to face enforcement action.
"We have enforcement work underway in a number of areas, and have already launched investigations into specific platforms. We expect to make further enforcement announcements in the coming months.
"From the end of July, platforms will have to start protecting children from harmful content promoting violence, abuse and hate – even where it is not illegal."