First Minister, John Swinney, has written an open letter to X, Meta and TikTok over the spread of misinformation and to tackle racist and hateful material on their platforms.
Swinney told them that they had “a duty to take action to ensure that individuals in our society are not subjected to hate and threatening behaviour, and that communities are protected from violent disorder.”
He added: “Everyone has a role in stopping the spread of misinformation. You and your platform have a specific responsibility to do so.”
He’s called on them to outline the actions they’re taking to combat the spread of misinformation on the platforms and what steps are being taken to address racist and hateful speech.
“Given the seriousness of the situation action needs to be immediate and decisive,” he wrote.
“Police Scotland has specifically raised with me concerns about the time it takes for problematic posts to be removed when these are identified by law enforcement agencies. This increases the risk of spread of malicious content. I would wish to understand the steps you are taking to address this, particularly for content that police identify as illegal or harmful.”
Yesterday, the former First Minister, Humza Yousaf spoke to an audience at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe about X owner, Elon Musk:
“I have to say, in my opinion, he is one of the most dangerous men on the planet. He is accountable to nobody, he has vast wealth at his fingertips, and he uses it for some of the most wicked evil I’ve seen.”
That came after Musk shared on X an image from Britain First co-leader Ashlea Simon. The picture was faked to look like it had come from the Daily Telegraph website, reporting the conspiracy theory that Britain was building detainment camps in the Falkland Islands for rioters.
The Telegraph quickly debunked the image:
The Telegraph is aware of an image circulating on X which purports to be a Telegraph article about 'emergency detainment camps'.
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) August 8, 2024
No such article has ever been published by the Telegraph.
Later Musk removed his post without comment, although it was viewed almost 2m times.
The letter in full:
This week I met with representatives of faith and refugees groups to show solidarity with communities around the country. They were clear to me about the impact of social media in spreading misinformation, raising alarm and the sense of threat in their communities. I also met with Scottish political party leaders and Police Scotland representatives to discuss the situation in Scotland and the rest of the UK. Police Scotland described social media posts that contain deliberate misinformation, with provocative and incendiary language with some potentially meeting the threshold for charge under Scotland’s hate crime legislation that came into effect in April this year.
It is clear to me that social media platforms have a duty to take action to ensure that individuals in our society are not subjected to hate and threatening behaviour, and that communities are protected from violent disorder.
I was struck by the communication from Ofcom this week reminding social media companies of their obligation to remove material that incites hatred or violence.
All political parties in Scotland stand together in resisting the prejudice and islamophobia that we have seen on the street in parts of the UK and online.
Everyone has a role in stopping the spread of misinformation. You and your platform have a specific responsibility to do so.
I would therefore be grateful if you could outline the action you are taking to combat the spread of misinformation on your platform and what steps being taken to address racist/hateful speech across your platform. Given the seriousness of the situation action needs to be immediate and decisive.
Police Scotland has specifically raised with me concerns about the time it takes for problematic posts to be removed when these are identified by law enforcement agencies. This increases the risk of spread of malicious content. I would wish to understand the steps you are taking to address this, particularly for content that police identify as illegal or harmful.
I am copying this letter to Peter Kyle MP, the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport.
