LinkedIn slammed for hosting jihadist lectures which have been viewed by extremists thousands of times
The business social network deleted the posts after they were flagged up
JIHADISTS have been using business website LinkedIn to spread extremist propaganda, it emerged today.
Lectures by hate preachers were uploaded online and viewed thousands of times on the social network, which is owned by Microsoft.
Experts accused the firm of "lending credibility" to extremists by hosting their content and helping it get shared.
The shocking posts were discovered on LinkedIn by a researcher from Tony Blair's think-tank, the Institute for Global Change.
The company deleted 18 jihadist posts after they were flagged up - but they had already been viewed more than 21,000 times.
Among the hate preachers featured in the posts were Abu Qatada, al-Qaeda fighter Anwar al-Awlaki and ISIS founder Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
One of the lectures stated: "A Muslim who reads the Quran with devotion will no doubt be determined to reach the battlefield in order to attain the benefits of jihad."
Another called on Muslims to give their cash to terror organisations to enable them to kill non-believers.
And one of the rants, from a preacher close to jailed Anjem Choudary, argued that Muslims should never spend time with non-Muslims.
The posts were published on SlideShare, a LinkedIn feature which is meant to allow professionals to share documents.
The website is best known for connecting businesspeople and enabling jobseekers to find vacant positions.
Mubaraz Ahmed, the analyst who found the jihadist propaganda, said today: “We all have to do what we can to stop extremist content being spread online.
“Social media sites must make sure they aren’t lending their credibility to extremists by hosting their content.
“Other platforms have demonstrated a willingness to invest in human and machine learning systems to identify and remove extremist content more efficiently, but these practices and learnings must be better shared and applied across the industry."
A spokesman for LinkedIn : "We do not tolerate or permit activity on our site that violates our terms of service, including hate speech, violence and threats.
"ISIS, terrorists and those who engage in violent crimes are not welcome on Linkedin and our services, including Slideshare.
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“We are grateful for it being brought to our attention. We encourage our members and SlideShare users to report inappropriate content, messages or safety concerns to us so that we can take action."
The revelation comes as a new report says social media giants must take responsibility for the content they host.
The Committee on Standards in Public Life is calling for the Government to introduce a new law making firms legally liable for their users' actions.