UK PM urged by MPs for 'David's law' to tackle abuse on social media platforms

In the wake of the shocking killing of British lawmaker David Amess, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing calls to enact ‘David’s law’ to tackle social media abuse directed towards public figures in the country and end online anonymity. As per The Guardian report, dozens of UK MPs on Monday, 18 October paid tribute to the veteran Conservative, who was stabbed to death on 15 October by expressing anger and sharing other qualities of Amess.

On 15 October, a 25-year-old British man with Somali heritage, Ali Harbi Ali, who was arrested at the scene, stabbed Amess at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea in his own constituency surgery of Southend West in Essex. Ali was arrested under the Terrorism Act on suspicion of murder. Police have also said, as per AP, that the suspect might have had a “motivation linked to Islamist extremism”. Amess death sent shockwaves across the country.

While the police are still investigating if there are any links between the incident with Islamist extremists, Amess’ allies are flagging the targeting of MPs online. Law enforcement has not yet connected Amess’ killing with the abuse faced by lawmakers on social media but his allies have reportedly voiced concerns about the threats and toxicity within public discourse. Hence, they called for a crackdown. 

As per the report, Labor Party leader, Keir Starmer told the House of Commons on Monday that “civility in politics matters” but “we must not lose sight of the fact that David’s killing was an [alleged] act of terror on the streets of our country.” MP for Rayleigh and Wickford, Mark Francois, who described Amess as one of his closest friends, pledged to dedicate his time in the parliament to call for more stringent rules to monitor social media. 

The Guardian quoted Francois telling Commons that he was “minded to drag Mark Zuckerberg [CEO of Facebook] and Jack Dorsey [CEO of Twitter] to the bar of the house … if necessary kicking and screaming so they can look us all in the eye and account for their actions or rather their inactions that make them even richer than they already are.” 

Francois further noted how Amess “had become increasingly concerned about what he called the toxic environment in which MPs, particularly female MPs, were having to operate in” and that the slain lawmaker was “appalled by what he called the vile misogynistic abuse which female MPs had to endure online and he told me very recently that he wanted something done about it.”

Suggesting ‘David’s law,’ Francois said that regardless of the parties, the lawmakers should unite to take the forthcoming online harms bill and make it more strict. He was quoted as saying, “Let’s put, if I may be so presumptuous, David’s law on to the statute book, the essence of which would be that while people in public life must remain open to legitimate criticism, they can no longer be vilified or their families subject to the most horrendous abuse, especially from people who hide behind a cloak of anonymity with the connivance of the social media companies for profit.”

PM Honours Slain MP David Amess In Parliament

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 18 October led the sombre parliament in honouring Amess while meeting with constituents at a church hall. The gruesome attack on the British lawmaker triggered questions over the protection of the politicians in the country especially with grappling extremism. Amess, as per The Associated Press, was targetted simply because he was a legislator and on Monday, Johnson honoured the slain lawmaker.

UK PM told the British MPs that “this House has lost a steadfast servant”. Johnson added, “Sir David was taken from us in a contemptible act of violence, striking at the core of what it is to be a Member of this House and violating the sanctity both of the church in which he was killed and the constituency surgery that is so essential to our representative democracy” while referring to the open meetings that lawmakers hold with the ones they represent in the parliament.

(IMAGE: AP)