Theresa May wants more stringent internet regulations after London attack

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has called for stricter internet regulations after seven people were killed in a terrorist attack in London Saturday.

In a statement following the attack, May acknowledged that there was no connection between the planning of this attack with the one in Westminster Abbey in March, or Manchester last month. She follows that the UK is facing a “new trend” of copycat terrorists who merely need to watch the news to learn how to plan a successful attack.

May looks specifically at the internet for quelling these kinds of copycats.

“We cannot allow this ideology the safe space it needs to breed,” she said. “Yet that is precisely what the internet — and the big companies that provide internet-based services — provide.”

May called for an alliance between democratic governments to regulate cyberspace more strictly, so as to prevent the spread of terrorist planning. She has not provided details on how this may be done, and when it would come into effect.

UK PM Theresa May wants stricter internet regulations after another terrorist attack on UK soil took the lives of seven people

The UK is set to hold its national election this Thursday.

This call for a more regulated cyberspace comes at a time when social media is under fire for being the breeding ground of violent and extremist activities.

Last month, a lawsuit claiming Facebook caused Palestinian uprisings that killed a number of Israelis was dismissed. The company, based in the US, was protected by a law that protects social platforms from being tried for what its users post.

Some experts say that if the lawsuit looked at how Facebook provides indispensable communication tools to those planning attacks, complainants may have a chance in the future.

Featured image: UK Home Office via Flickr (CC 2.0 BY, resized)