Facebook tells users ‘we can’t stop you getting raped’ and admits it takes 48 hours to respond to violent threats
FACEBOOK bosses told MPs "We can't stop you getting raped" and admitted they take as long as 48 hours to remove violent threats, The Sun can reveal.
Executives at the social network also suggested they would refuse to hand over data on how often they have to flag up suicidal users to the police.
The chiefs made their explosive comments while giving evidence to an official inquiry on how to stop the harassment of MPs and political candidates.
Furious MPs from across the political spectrum slammed the company last night, saying its "awful" comments about rape were "not good enough" - and called for the firm to be fined if it doesn't clean up its act.
The Committee on Standards in Public Life is set to blast Facebook and other web giants when it issues its report on the abuse of MPs next month, The Sun understands.
Asked by the committee how the firm would deal with a rape threat made against a female MP, policy director Simon Milner replied: "We cannot stop you being raped, all we can do is take down the content, but if you are really seriously worried about harm, you must report it to the police."
He added: "We can’t tell you someone will definitely look at that within 15 minutes, depends what else is happening."
Mr Milner insisted that any threat would eventually get deleted from the site, saying: "We aim to get to every report within 48 hours."
Another executive, Sean Evins, added: "As soon as somebody reports it on one of the tools on Facebook, it goes into a queue.
"Every single issue is looked at in a 48-hour window."
Despite saying users should report violent threats to the police, the Facebook chiefs confirmed there is no way to refer abusive posts directly to an officer.
Mr Milner admitted that the company was sometimes "too slow" to respond to violent material, saying: "We know we need to invest more in this area and that’s exactly what we’re doing."
The company bosses told the inquiry that Facebook has a scheme to report suicidal users to the police in a bid to save their lives.
But asked how often the programme is used, execs said they did not know - and hinted they would refuse to give the data to officials even if they had it.
Inquiry member Jane Ramsey asked: "How many times in a year in England would that be operated, or the UK?"
Mr Milner replied: "I’m afraid I don’t even know the number. If we had, I’m not sure we could share it."
Senior MPs responded with anger to Facebook's testimony and said the company must face Government action if it refuses to do more.
Yvette Cooper, chair of the Home Affairs select committee, told The Sun: "This isn't good enough. Facebook is one of the richest companies on the planet. The idea that it could take them 48 hours to remove a serious rape threat that has been reported to them is appalling.
"They have a social and moral responsibility to put systems in place that deal swiftly with illegal threats, dangerous activity and vile hate crimes.
"If social media companies can't get their act together, to deal with this kind of criminal threat, they should face serious government fines until they do."
Former Cabinet minister Nicky Morgan said: "This is appalling - and sounds like an excuse for total inaction."
Labour's Jess Phillips, who has been a victim of repeated online abuse, added: "The providers should be compelled to do something about this - it shouldn’t just be on the victims. If you say ‘we can’t deal with it’, that’s not good enough. You have to learn to deal with it.”
And Ed Davey, the Lib Dem home affairs spokesman, said: "Facebook and other social media giants have a responsibility to take down material such as rape threats. It’s clear there is more that they could and should be doing."
Facebook talked to the panel in September as part of the wide-ranging inquiry into the abuse received by MPs and candidates, but the company's evidence was not released until this week.
A source close to the inquiry told The Sun: “Facebook thought, ‘We’re far too big to be dealing with this’ - that was our impression.”
When Twitter gave evidence to the inquiry, policy chief Nick Pickles said the company tries to remove abusive within just one hour - rather than the 48 hours taken by Facebook.
And he also said the firm gives users information on how to contact the police if they get a serious threat.
Both Facebook and Twitter pointed to the rise of Jeremy Corbyn and the hard left as an explanation for the rising level of abuse directed at politicians online.
In the run-up to June's snap General Election, dozens of MPs reported being harassed online with sexist and racist abuse as well as violent death threats.
A spokesman for Facebook said last night: "These comments were made during a committee hearing where Simon Milner explained how seriously Facebook takes its responsibilities for the safety of parliamentarians, including working with the parliamentary authorities and supporting campaigns like Reclaim the Internet.
"We don’t tolerate hate speech or direct threats on Facebook and have teams working around the clock reviewing reports of this kind.
"Where we see there is an imminent threat to life, we immediately alert the police."
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Culture of hate which thrives on social media
Female politicians have faced a torrent of abuse from vile web trolls over the past year - leading to claims internet giants aren't doing enough to crack down.
A report by Amnesty International found that 25,000 abusive tweets were sent to woman MPs in just six months.
Many of the trolls sending the messages included racist and sexist slurs as well as threats of rape and murder.
Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott has told how she received hundreds of emails calling her the N-word and insulting her appearance.
Two prominent Tory MPs, Anna Soubry and Nicky Morgan, were sent messages warning them that they could end up being killed like tragic Jo Cox.
Male politicians have also been on the receiving end of online harassment too - Trade Secretary Liam Fox was sent a threat to a family member earlier this year.
Facebook, Twitter and other social networks claim to have a hard line against all forms of abuse.
But MPs have accused them of failing to remove threats when they are reported, and allowing trolls to stay active on their sites.