Oral Answers to Questions

Neil Coyle Excerpts

Thursday 6th September 2018 Commons Chamber

[Margot James]

My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State made it clear earlier that full fibre roll-out plans will ensure that rural parts of my hon. Friend’s constituency are not left behind, whether that investment is made commercially or via the public purse.

[Neil Coyle (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (Lab)]

T4. The UN concluded that false reports on Facebook contributed to Myanmar genocide and that its algorithms contributed towards violence against refugees in Germany. The Secretary of State says that he needs to think about these issues, but will he back the deputy leader of the Labour party, my hon. Friend the Member for West Bromwich East (Tom Watson), with his “nospaceforhate” campaign and support proposals for a new regulator with the power to fine social media companies that fail to act against false reports and hate speech on their platforms?

[Jeremy Wright]

What the hon. Gentleman raises is hugely important and we will certainly consider ideas from wherever they come. As Secretary of State, I do not take the view that just because an idea comes from a Labour Front Bencher it is automatically bad—the odds are good that that will be the case, but the idea will not be automatically bad—so I will, of course, consider these ideas from wherever they come.