MPs call for online trolls to be silenced with ‘internet ASBOs’
A group of MPs are seeking to combat a spate of anti-semitic online insults by slapping down perpetrators with online anti-social behaviour orders.
Such ‘internet ASBOs’ would ban individuals from social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, by extending existing legislation curtailing sex offenders online reach to those convicted of hate crimes.
The proposed clampdown follows a rise in the number of anti-semitic statements posted online in the wake of last year’s resumption of hostilities between Palestinians and Israel and Paris terror attacks.
An MPs report read: “If it can be proven in a detailed way that someone has made a considered and determined view to exploit various online networks to harm and perpetrate hate crimes against others then the accepted principles, rules and restrictions that are relevant to sex offences must surely apply.”
During a peak in activity last summer the hashtag ‘Hitler was right’ was trending on Twitter whilst terms such as ‘Hitler’ and the ‘Holocaust’ were amongst the most popular keywords.