Facebook and Twitter urged to enhance moderation
Social media companies, most prominently Facebook and Twitter, are being urged to assume greater responsibility in moderating what goes on across their networks.
The call has been made in a bid to clamp down on the increasing number of cases of trolling and harassment which are clogging up the judicial system.
Just this week Matthew Woods, a teenager who made sick jokes about missing five-year old April Jones was given a 12 week jail sentence whilst on Tuesday Azhar Ahmed was sentenced for posting abusive messages about British soldiers.
This spate of cases has prompted barrister Keir Starmer to liaise with lawyers, journalists and the police on the issue in a bid to investigate how social media firms can bolster their own self-policing.
Starmer is said to be in the process of drafting a series of guidelines on the issue although as yet there is no clear sense of what they might be but police are calling for offensive posts to be deleted more rapidly and repeat offenders to be blocked.