Should social media companies do more to stop riots? Yahoo readers have their say
Yahoo News UK asked our readers whether social media firms should be doing more to prevent the spread of violence.
Yahoo UK's poll of the week lets you vote and indicate your strength of feeling on one of the week's hot topics. After 72 hours the poll closes and, each Friday, we'll publish and analyse the results, giving readers the chance to see how polarising a topic has become and if their view chimes with other Yahoo UK readers.
People who share offensive content on social media are facing prison sentences as part of a crackdown on those involved in recent violence across the country.
As one man was jailed within 24 hours of posting racially aggravated, offensive online content on social media, a minister said social media giants have an “obligation” to deal with offences being committed on their platforms.
Billy Thompson, 31, of Mill Street, Maryport, was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison on Thursday after admitting an offence under section 127 of the Communications Act, Cumbria Police said.
He was among at least a dozen people jailed on Thursday for their part in the riots of the past 10 days, with more expected to be sent to prison on Friday. So far, around 150 charges have been brought over the unrest while the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said by Thursday afternoon the total number of arrests stood at 483.
Online offences are being pursued along with physical crimes. Richard David Williams, 34, of Maes Deri, Ewloe, Flintshire, was due to appear in court on Friday charged with malicious communications, North Wales Police said.
On Thursday a 55-year-old woman from Chester was arrested in relation to a social media post which contained inaccurate information about the identity of the suspect in the Southport murders.
Home Office minister Dame Diana Johnson said: “If there are criminal offences being committed on social media platforms now, then these social media companies have an obligation now to deal with that. If they’re having incitement to violence on their platforms, that needs to be dealt with now, today. We don’t need the Online Safety Act to deal with that.”
Yahoo News UK asked our readers whether social media firms should be doing more to prevent the spread of violence, here are the results:
Our poll from Monday at midday until midday Thursday asked: 'Should social media companies do more to stop riots?'
It received 1,408 votes and showed that 69% of Yahoo readers thought social media companies should do more to stop rioters.
Some 27% of voters said social media companies shouldn't be doing more, with just 4% saying they were were not sure either way.
69% of Yahoo readers thought social media companies should do more to stop rioters
Yahoo News UK readers were also asked, "How strongly do you feel that social media is making the riots worse?"
This poll received 846 votes with the most common vote being 10/10, indicating many readers feel strongly that social media exacerbated the rioting.
The average strength-of-feeling score on all the votes was 7.47/10.
Many readers feel strongly that social media exacerbated the rioting
Our original poll article can be found here.
A YouGov poll found that people think social media is highly responsible for the riots, with 86% of the public viewing it as a key driving force. More conventional news media is also blamed by seven in 10 Britons (69%), with only one in five (19%) believing they aren’t responsible.
Most responsible for the violence in the eyes of the public are the rioters themselves, with nine in ten Britons (88%) viewing them as at least somewhat responsible for causing the unrest, including seven in ten (71%) viewing them as holding a great deal of responsibility.
Three-quarters of Britons (74%) put responsibility at the door of organised far-right groups and only one in nine (11%) feel they are not responsible for recent events. A clear majority of the public (57%) also attribute responsibility to Tommy Robinson.
Only 46% of the public believe that the recent violence has really been to do with the Southport murders, with a similar number (47%) viewing Reform UK leader Nigel Farage as holding some level of responsibility for the unrest.
Read more of Yahoo UK's Poll of the Week articles
