Ofcom probing how social media firms remove illegal hate and terror content

Ofcom has launched an investigation into how social media companies remove illegal content including hate and terror material after MPs raised concerns over the volume of antisemitic content on X after the Manchester synagogue attack.

The UK communications regulator said it will determine whether the biggest social media companies have adequate processes for “assessing and swiftly removing” material that has been reported to them.

The watchdog’s boss Dame Melanie Dawes said if any “significant compliance concerns are found”, formal enforcement action could be taken against firms and would be made public.

Joani Reid, Labour MP and chairwoman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) against antisemitism, wrote to the watchdog last month asking it to investigate whether Elon Musk’s X platform is failing to comply with its duties under the Online Safety Act, which requires companies to remove hateful and extreme content when it is found.

In a letter to Ms Reid and the APPG, Dame Melanie said the regulator had engaged with the largest social media platforms and community groups after the terrorist attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in October.

“All the organisations in question reported that they were observing significant volumes of extreme hatred online – including on some of the largest social media platforms – and including antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate,” Dame Melanie wrote.

Announcing that the regulator has launched a new compliance programme to assess the biggest social media platforms, Dame Melanie confirmed that by April one unnamed major platform will have been reviewed.

She added: “We agree that this requires a firm response.

“Evidence of illegal terror and hate content remaining on major platforms after it has been reported to them suggests that content moderation processes need to improve.”