PM to urge action over online extremist content after Manchester attack

Theresa May is to call on world leaders to step up pressure on internet companies to rid the web of extremist material in the wake of the Manchester terrorist attack.

The Prime Minister will tell the G7 group of leading industrial nations that the threat from Islamic State is evolving from the battlefield to the internet, as she accuses tech companies of not doing enough to remove harmful online material.

Mrs May will say that internet giants - the likes of Facebook, Google, Twitter - have a social responsibility to do more to remove harmful content from their websites, including videos promoting hate, violence and terrorist activity.

The Prime Minister, who made prosperity and security in a digital age one of her five priorities on the Tory manifesto, will urge her G7 counterparts - meeting in Sicily - to support a global industry-led forum to agree new standards for removing extremist material from the web and reporting those posting such items.

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While Mrs May leads her initiative on countering extremism, other leaders will be pressing Donald Trump on free trade and climate change, amid concerns the US President may withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change.

A British government official said the PM wants to encourage internet companies to create tools that can automatically identify and remove harmful material. She also wants those who post extremist content online to be blocked.

Calling on tech giants to step up their policing, Mrs May wants internet firms and Government to work more closely together to take action against those posting harmful content.

The PM wants internet companies to revise their guidelines to be "absolutely clear on what constitutes harmful material", with an implicit warning from an official that "those who do not do this will be held to account".

The official would not be drawn on whether that might lead to more punitive action, such as fines, if the companies did not comply.

Mrs May believes internet security is central to the fight against terrorism, and has also put it at the forefront of her pitch to the electorate, pledging to do more to protect children online from sexual exploitation and bullying.

The Conservative manifesto released last week pledged to introduce new rights to require social media companies to delete information about young people as they turn 18.

The PM will leave the annual G7 a day early after leading the session on extremism and the internet, flying back to London on Friday evening to take charge of the response to the Manchester bomb.

Political parties resumed their local campaigning on Thursday after a minute's silence was held in the wake of the Manchester bombing. The Conservatives and Labour will recommence national campaigning on Friday.