Britain's Foreign Minister Boris Johnson Calls Google "Disgusting"

By A.M. Uygongco | Mar 27, 2017 06:03 AM EDT

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Boris Johnson, UK's Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, called Google "Disgusting" for profiting from extremist content.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Foreign Minister Boris Johnson calls several IT companies, Google as one of them, "disgusting" for making money from violent content, reports the Independent. He adds that Google needs to stop profiting from such material.

This comes as many European firms such as Marks & Spencer pull out their ads from Google-owned Youtube's ad platform in fear that it would be played next to videos that contain hate, racism, and/or terrorism.

Google has apologized over the matter and said that it is committed to doing better. Controls and safer defaults would be added, said Google's EMEA President Matt Brittin.  

Boris Johnson also said that IT companies are not reacting fast enough to take down terrorist propaganda and training manuals, calling it disgusting. He is furious about the fact that internet providers and social media firms such as Facebook and Twitter do not react when they are tipped off.

Johnson said that there is a need to develop systems and algorithms to detect these material and consequently remove it.  

Home Secretary Amber Rudd shares the same sentiments, asking for firms to show more social responsibility towards content that promotes extremism and terrorism. She wrote in an article for the Sunday Telegraph that each attack shows the vital role that the internet is playing in serving as a conduit for the spread of extremism, reports SBS.

According to Rudd, the issue cannot be handled or solved alone. She went on to say that social media firms are needed to be more proactive and lead the fight against terrorists who use their platforms for the wrong reasons.

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