The government defended the media regulator’s response to the unrest in Britain, saying it had made it clear that social media companies needed to take account of their role in the crisis.
Ofcom has published an open letter to platforms saying they should not wait for the agency to be given expanded powers under the Online Safety Act before taking action.
Police Minister Dame Diana Johnson agreed, saying technology companies “now have an obligation” to “deal with” material that incites violence.
Critics, however, say tougher action is needed.
“Online disinformation is a clear and present danger that has the potential to cause unrest on Britain’s streets in real time,” said Azzurra Moores of fact-checking organisation Full Fact.
“We cannot afford to wait weeks and months for bolder and more decisive action from Ofcom and the government.”
Speaking on BBC Radio Four’s Today programme, Dame Diana raised the possibility of a review of the Online Safety Act, which is due to come into force early next year.
“Of course, the events of the last few days require us to examine very carefully what else we can do.”
She also said that a possible plan to ban convicted rioters from football matches was being “examined”.
Dame Diana said she was convinced that football, rugby and other sports clubs “would not want people who have caused such violence and unrest in their communities in their stands at the weekend”.
The role of social media in the unrest in England and Northern Ireland is increasingly coming under scrutiny.
The government said on Wednesday that social media platforms “clearly need to do much more” after it emerged that a list purporting to contain the names and addresses of immigration lawyers had been circulated online.
The Law Society of England and Wales said it viewed the list as a “very credible threat” to its members.
Telegram, where the list appears to have originated, told the BBC that its moderators are “actively monitoring the situation and removing channels and posts that contain calls for violence.” It said such “calls for violence” are explicitly prohibited in its terms of service.
Earlier this week, the Prime Minister was embroiled in an online dispute with Elon Musk after the tech billionaire responded to the unrest by writing on X that a “civil war” in the UK was “inevitable”.
In his open letterOfcom acknowledged that there was an “increased risk” that the websites would be misused to “incite hatred” and “provoke violence”.
It added that under existing regulations, video-sharing platforms such as TikTok and Snap must “protect their users from videos that are likely to incite violence or hatred.”
But many platforms that allow video uploads – like YouTube and Elon Musk’s X – do not have to follow these rules.
Prof Lorna Woods of the University of Essex, who worked on the Online Safety Act, said Ofcom was in a “difficult position” because it had to wait for its powers to be extended.
She also pointed out that even the new legislation has its limitations.
“If the law were fully in force, it would not cover all content,” she told the BBC.
“So while the organization of a riot would be exposed, some of the dog-whistle tactics and disinformation would not be exposed.
“The last government did not want to regulate non-criminal statements made to adults.”
