LONDON — British ministers are facing growing calls to clamp down on online anonymity after the shocking killing of an MP. But it’s not as easy as it sounds.
In the aftermath of the fatal stabbing of Tory MP David Amess last Friday as he met constituents, there’s been a renewed push from some of his colleagues to bring an end to abusive account holders keeping their identity a secret. It comes amid a wider call for civility in politics. People inside government, however, say the issue’s far from settled.
Facebook and Twitter chiefs Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey should be “dragged” to the bar of the House of Commons – “if necessary kicking and screaming so they can look us all in the eye and account for their actions or rather their inactions that make them even richer than they already are,” Conservative MP Mark Francois said in an emotional House of Commons speech Monday.
The former minister called for the Online Safety Bill — currently in draft form and aimed at policing harmful content — to be toughened up “to ensure that our colleague didn’t die in vain.”
While some argue there does not appear to be a direct link between online abuse and the murder of Amess, whose suspected killer is currently being investigated on terrorism charges, others want to use the MP’s death as an opportunity for wider change.
Damian Collins, chairing one of the parliamentary committees looking at the new law, told the Telegraph he believes there’s a “strong case” for technology firms to be required to have enough personal information so an online abuser can be identified as part of any investigation into them.
But ministers are more cautious. Home Secretary Priti Patel, one of the ministers responsible for the legislation, struck a careful tone over the weekend, saying any action “has to be proportionate and it has to be balanced.” And she told the BBC that people use online anonymity “for a range of pro-democracy movements, for example, and in a range of other cases. We can’t just apply a binary approach.”
In flux
Multiple figures familiar with internal discussions say that while acting against online anonymity is being considered, it’s by no means settled policy. That’s not least because Prime Minister Boris Johnson sacked the ministers primarily in charge of the bill in his September reshuffle —meaning key figures involved in the legislation have only been in post for a matter of weeks.
The new ministers — Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries and Digital Economy Minister Chris Philp, a former minister in the Home Office — are “very robust,” one official familiar with internal conversations said.
The new team has been given some breathing space while the draft bill, published in May, is scrutinized by two parliamentary committees, including one led by Collins. His committee is due to report back in December, and a second official involved in discussions said ministers are reluctant to pre-empt its conclusions.
The first official said: “There are very strong legitimate arguments on both sides. And I think that’s something we haven’t settled. I think it’s something we’re open to and we can see the merits of — but also we can see there are problems it raises.”
Ministers have previously argued individuals may not wish to identify themselves online for legitimate reasons like whistleblowing or because they have been victims of crimes like modern slavery, domestic violence and sexual abuse.
The same official added: “There’s nothing nailed on. We want to carry on with the debate, really, because people put forward good points.”
There are also hopes in government circles that the tech companies might act first if they “see where the winds are blowing” — introducing an option for users to only see verified accounts, for example.
“You’d think they’d want to make their platforms as good an experience for the user as possible. That would be a big one, a really easy, simple solution,” the first official added.
One figure familiar with discussions around the bill earlier this year said there’s a “middle ground” in which social media platforms are forced “to introduce a version of verification,” but anonymity isn’t banned outright.
“In the same way that Twitter has done for blue ticks [people with verified accounts], you could probably beef up some of the Facebook stuff a bit, and you then say ‘now I can only see verified accounts.’ And therefore politicians will be able to introduce something analogous to communicating with people once they have confirmed they are a constituent — as happens with email.”
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