Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) Makes This Big Announcement after London Attacks

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Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) Makes This Big Announcement after London Attacks

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) announced that it will make its social networking platform a “hostile environment” for terrorists. The statement comes on heels of multiple terrorist attacks in London on Saturday, killing at least seven people.

On London Bridge, attackers drove a van into pedestrians before stabbing revelers nearby. At least 48 people were injured in the attack. Police shot dead the three attackers in the Borough Market area near the bridge.

In response to the attack, Prime Minister Theresa May urged internet companies to help the government combat extremism. May said that the internet should be regulated and new rules should be introduced to “deprive the extremists of their safe spaces online.”

The British Prime Minister said that big technology firms aren’t doing enough and are partly responsible for providing extreme ideology the space to develop.

“We cannot allow this ideology the safe space it needs to breed – yet that is precisely what the internet and the big companies that provide Internet-based services provide,” May said. “We need to work with allied democratic governments to reach international agreements to regulate cyberspace to prevent the spread of extremist and terrorism planning.”

Facebook Response

On Sunday, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) said it condemned the London attacks in a statement, Fortune reported.

“We want Facebook to be a hostile environment for terrorists,” Simon Milner, Director of Policy at Facebook, said.

“Using a combination of technology and human review, we work aggressively to remove terrorist content from our platform as soon as we become aware of it—and if we become aware of an emergency involving imminent harm to someone’s safety, we notify law enforcement,” Milner said.

Meanwhile, shares of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) closed up 1.37%. The social networking giant’s stock is up more than 33% year-to-date.