• Social media giant apologises for refusing to remove images • Company could be prosecuted as jihadist posts also exposed Alexi Mostrous, Head of Investigations Facebook is at risk of a criminal prosecution in Britain for refusing to remove potentially illegal terrorist and child pornography content despite being told it was on the site, The Times can reveal. The social media company failed to take down dozens of images and videos that were “flagged” to its moderators, including one showing an Islamic State beheading, several violent paedophilic cartoons, a video of an apparent sexual assault on a child and propaganda posters glorifying recent terrorist attacks in London and Egypt. Instead of removing the content, moderators said that the posts did not breach the site’s “community standards”. Facebook’s algorithms even promoted some of the offensive material by suggesting that users join groups and profiles that had published it. A leading QC… Want to read more? Subscribe now and get unlimited digital access on web and our smartphone and tablet apps, free for your first month.
Facebook, the world’s largest social network and publisher, faces possible criminal prosecution in the UK for failing to remove child pornography and terrorist material, despite the content being “flagged” to moderators, according to The Times. The company’s own algorithms also suggested that some users join groups publishing the material. Julian Knowles QC, who viewed the content, believed much of it was illegal and that Facebook could have committed a criminal offence by refusing to remove it.