Select Committee
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Conservative MP Chris Green asks whether the content on Twitter reflects the "moral character" of the social media firm.

Katy Minshall, from Twitter, says some of the examples raised would not meet this threshold, but their job is to identify and remove such content.

She adds that given the volume of content being uploaded, the company will not be hitting a "100% success rate" in the "near term".

But she says the company has improved its processes in this area, adding that it is in a "very different place" to a few years ago.

Select Committee
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Labour's Stephen Doughty says there are numerous links to neo-Nazi and far-right organisations in the comments section of YouTube videos.

He says he has been able to "find stuff within minutes", and says the company's monitoring systems are "not working".

Marco Pancini, a YouTube director of public policy, says the situation has been "improving", but there is a "need to do a better job" in this area.

But Mr Doughty says all three firms represented on the panel are "not doing your jobs" when it comes to taking down content.

Select Committee
Parliament

Yvette Cooper asks about the Sri Lankan government's decision to enforce a social media blackout in the aftermath of Sunday's bombings.

She asks the contributors whether this type of response will become more likely in the future because governments have "no confidence in your ability to sort things out".

Marco Pancini, from YouTube, says there is a "need to respect" the decision of the authorities.

Neil Potts, public policy director at Facebook, also says they respect the decision, although they believe it would be “better for it to be open".

Select Committee
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Marco Pancini, YouTube’s director of public policy, is also questioned about the firm's efforts to remove harmful content from its website.

He says 90% of the material it takes down after review has had fewer than 10 views, and he insists the company has a "robust approach" to tackling the threat.

Here's a selection of the day's other political stories:

• Labour vows to scrap a controversial government scheme that allows offices and industrial buildings to be converted into homes without planning permission.
• Senior Conservatives are set to hold further talks on whether to change party rules to enable an early leadership challenge to Theresa May.
• Former Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe has announced she is set to return to politics - for Nigel Farage's Brexit Party.
• Government borrowing last year fell to its lowest annual level in 17 years, official figures show.

Select Committee
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Back at the home affairs committee hearing on hate crime, Yvette Cooper asks whether Facebook reports content that is illegal - rather than simply against the platform's rules - to the local police.

Neil Potts, from the social media company, says "we do not report all crimes", but "imminent threats" are reported.

Returning to the issue of the Christchurch shootings video, Ms Cooper accuses social media platforms of being "reactive" on the issue.

Katy Minshall, from Twitter, says the video was also distributed by "traditional media outlets" - such as newspapers.

She says some people "inadvertently" broke the rules during efforts to express their solidarity with the victims of the attack.

Image source, PA

Conservative MP Johnny Mercer is in the headlines this morning after it emerged that a company which marketed a failed bond scheme that lost savers £236m has been funding his private salary.

Mr Mercer receives £85,000 from Crucial Academy - a company which trains military veterans and is ultimately funded by Surge Financial Limited.

Surge Financial Limited took 25% commission for marketing bonds by London Capital and Finance (LCF), which is now in administration.

Mr Mercer - who is facing calls from investors to quit as an MP - said he had done nothing wrong.

He said he had "sought rigorous assurances that at no stage was capital used from any business with LCF, in Crucial Academy".

Image source, Brendan Gallagher

Theresa May is expected to join other political leaders at the journalist's funeral in Belfast. The 29-year-old was killed on Thursday while observing rioting in Londonderry.

Select Committee
Parliament

Yvette Cooper says the issue of people "gaming the system" to get around the rules on social media platforms has been a problem "for years".

She says it's "hard to believe" it is still a difficult issue for companies to deal with.

Neil Potts, from Facebook, says the live-stream of the Christchurch mosque shootings was a "new type of video", which he describes as a "first-person shooter video".

He adds that the artificial intelligence programmes used to detect such content can be subverted by things like filters, but they can "learn very quickly".

This story explains more about the efforts Facebook says it made to stop the video spreading.

Select Committee
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Labour MP Yvette Cooper, who chairs the home affairs committee, kicks things off with a question about the Christchurch shootings last month, which were live-streamed on Facebook.

She says there are reports in New Zealand that versions of the video are still available.

Neil Potts, public policy director at Facebook, says the original video was removed within 10 minutes after they were notified about it, and 1.5m versions of it were removed within 24 hours.

He says he is "not aware" about copies of the video still being available, but says it is "possible" that a different version of the video is still online.

The automated technology used to detect harmful, offensive or disturbing content is "not perfect", he adds.

Hello and welcome to our coverage of events today in Westminster.

At 12.00 BST Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington will stand in for Theresa May at PMQs, as the prime minister travels to Belfast to attend the funeral of journalist Lyra McKee. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and SNP leader at Westminster Ian Blackford are also going to the service.

This afternoon, there’s an opposition-led debate on council funding for social care.

But first this morning, MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee will be taking evidence from social media firms as part of their inquiry into hate crime.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley and MPs are now talking about the death of Lyra McKee.

Ms Bradley tells MPs that Ms McKee, 29, was a "talented journalist" and her death is a "true loss to Northern Ireland".

"Nothing we can say today can take away the pain Lyra’s family must be feeling now," she said.

"We will continue to strive for peace in Northern Ireland now.

"We are behind you and united in rejecting those who undermine peace with terror."

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry says: "We in the West must do our part to help Sri Lanka to recover form this horror by continuing to visit that beautiful country and show the terrorists they will not win."

"We must not make the mistake of blaming religion," she adds.

"There is no religion on this Earth which teaches that the way to salvation is blowing up innocent children or shooting people at prayer."

She describes the attacks as "an act born of vicious mind-polluting hatred perpetrated by sickening, despicable individuals".

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt says the government "passes on its deepest sympathies" to those affected, describing the situation as "truly heartbreaking".

He condemns the attack as "a primitive and vile attempt to sow divisions between people of different faiths".

"Our response must be to deny the perpetrators the satisfaction of dividing us," he says.

Image source, AFP

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has now joined MPs to make a statement on the Sri Lanka bomb blasts.

Earlier Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the Islamic State (IS) group may be linked to the attacks.

He said the government believed Sunday's attacks could not have been carried out without links to terror groups abroad.

IS said it had "targeted nationals of the crusader alliance [anti-IS US-led coalition] and Christians in Sri Lanka - but provided no evidence.

Read more.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

MPs have held a one minute silence in memory of the victims of the attacks in Sri Lanka.

A wave of bombings targeting churches and hotels in Sri Lanka left at least 321 people dead and about 500 injured.

Churches were hit during Easter Sunday services in the cities of Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Shadow transport minister Rachael Maskell accuses the "ever failing" Transport Secretary Chris Grayling of a "lack of action" on the "beleaguered" South Eastern franchise.

She says the government should have brought the franchise into direct operation, adding that the "franchising fiasco must end".

Transport Minister Andrew Jones replies that the "short" extension to the franchise will allow the competition on the next operator to conclude.

Franchising, he adds, has been "an ingredient in our rail turnaround".

House of Commons
Parliament

Transport Minister Andrew Jones says the department has extended the franchise in order to deliver "the best outcome" for passengers.

Michael Fallon replies that the minister "hasn't explained why such a mess has been made of this franchise".

He asks when the franchise will be awarded.

Mr Jones replies that he cannot give a date.

"It is right to take the time to make sure we get it right," he says.

Image source, PA

Conservative MP Michael Fallon now asks an urgent question on the delay of the award of the new South Eastern rail franchise.

In December, the government extended the franchise agreement with Govia from 1 April 2019 to 22 June 2019.

On 10 April, the government announced that the current franchise would be extended to 10 November 2019 with an option to extend the agreement further to April 2020 "while we make a decision on the competition".

The South Eastern franchise covers services on HS1, the London Metro network, all Kent routes and the Tunbridge Wells to Hastings line in East Sussex.

Earlier this month, the Department for Transport disallowed a bid for the South Eastern franchise from Stagecoach, saying the firm had not met pensions rules.