High-street brands are funding paedophilia by advertising on their websites, says Home Secretary Sajid Javid
The Home Secretary warns high street brands who are funding twisted web pages to be aware of where their ads end up
BIG high-street brands are funding vile paedophilia online by advertising on their twisted web pages, Sajid Javid revealed yesterday.
The Home Secretary insisted all companies have a duty to ensure they know where their ads end up.
The blast came as he issued a stern ultimatum on tech giants to crack down on an explosion of child sex abuse that their sites are hosting or face tough new laws.
Calling out the careless advertising, Mr Javid said: “Regular firms that you’d recognise don’t know this is happening.
“They’ve commissioned their advertising out to digital companies that have made it easy for anyone than can get clicks to access them.
So indirectly, they’re funding this type of crime.That has to stop.”
Issuing the challenge for immediate action, Mr Javid issued a list of demands to tech companies that included blocking sick material as soon it is uploaded, stopping grooming online, cooperating with police to shutdown live-streamed child abuse and share best practice with smaller rivals.
Insisting on answers from them by the end of the year, he added: “I am not just asking for change, I am demanding it”.
“And if technology companies do not take more measures to remove this type of content from their platforms, then I won’t be afraid to take action.”
The Home Office supremo refused to name and shame sinning firms for now to give them a chance to respond, but did call out Google for not doing enough.
But he also warned the estimated 80,000 paedophiles in Britain who are active on the net were now smarter than terrorists to evade detection.
They use encryption and the dark web, as well as regularly “jumping from site to site” and “swapping aliases”.
Mr Javid new drive against tech firms was backed by senior cops yesterday. Chief Constable Simon Bailey said tech companies are “simply not doing enough”.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for child protection urged internet users should instead boycott the worst offender sites.
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Mr Bailey added: “Ultimately something can be done by the public, by boycotting certain products, by raising their complaints.
“It’s the big companies, it’s the Googles, the Microsofts, the Facebooks, the Apples, the Twitters.
They are all responsible in their own way for permitting the abuse of children to take place.”
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