Online Hate Speech

Lord Pickles Excerpts

Tuesday 16th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

The noble Baroness raises important questions about how platforms operate in practice and the interaction between the online and offline worlds. The Government’s document Protecting What Matters looks across many different government departments and sets out what we can do to support cohesive communities. We have said that we need to explore further how to tackle the spread of hateful content online and that we will look at the way in which algorithms can increase the spread of harmful content. We will set out what we will do as a result of those considerations.

[Lord Pickles (Con)]

My Lords, the Minister said that there was no place for antisemitism online. However, I am afraid that antisemitism is alive and kicking online with, as the noble Baroness, Lady Berger, said, conspiracy theories, Holocaust denial and extreme Jew hatred. This is having a rotting effect on British society and is a serious threat to public safety, social cohesion and democratic trust. We have heard the Minister give an excellent critique of what is happening, but we are looking for solutions that treat the underlying problem, not the symptoms of this dreadful disease.

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

We share a commitment to tackling and stamping out antisemitism. It manifests in all parts of society and we need to act in all parts of society. In respect of the online world and the department, last month the Minister for Online Safety met with Jewish community leaders, Ofcom and major platforms to discuss how best to tackle antisemitism online. He made clear that he expects platforms to act swiftly on that content and we are exploring how we might take this joint work further on a longer-term basis.