Violent and extremist videos are still online despite government calls for their removal, the home secretary has told the .
Yvette Cooper condemned tech giants for failing to take down disturbing videos, including footage watched by the Southport killer, calling their response “disgraceful” and a clear breach of their “moral responsibilities”.
Last week it emerged that Axel Rudakubana, who murdered three young girls and seriously injured eight other children and two adults at a dance class in July, had watched graphic footage of a knife attack in Australia and downloaded an academic study of an Al-Qaeda training manual.
Cooper told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that, despite her letter to X, Meta, TikTok, Google, and YouTube, much of the harmful content is still available.
She said: “I think, frankly, that is disgraceful, because they have a moral responsibility.”
Kuenssberg asked Cooper if she was angry, to which she replied: “I really am.”
She said that while the responsibility “lies with the perpetrator” everyone else also must also do what they can “to keep people safe and to address this.”
In the home secretary’s letter, which was co-written with Technology Secretary Peter Kyle, Cooper said that, while possession of the al-Qaeda study was illegal under existing anti-terror laws, Rudakubana had been “able to easily obtain access” to it.
Kuenssberg asked Cooper why, given her position as home secretary, she appeared to be powerless to stop it. The home secretary said the Online Safety Act, which comes into force this spring, will require social media platforms to remove illegal content. She warned that the government is ready to take further steps if these companies don’t comply.
Visibly angry, Cooper said: “They really should be doing more, but this will mean if they don’t, then there will be new penalties brought in. Much stronger action can be taken against them and then further stronger measures on the protection of children later in the year.”
Rudakubana had been referred to the Prevent counter-terror programme three times between 2019 and 2021 and was known to authorities including the police and social services.
Kuenssberg asked who was responsible for stopping individuals like Rudakubana, given that he had been flagged to multiple agencies.
The current system of monitoring and intervention is not working and “there isn’t a clear structure for responsibility,” Cooper said.
“Different organisations all have partial responsibilities, but that network collectively failed to identify the scale of risk that this young man poses.”
Asked what she proposed as a remedy to the problem, Cooper said “the system needs to be strengthened.”
She pointed out that when someone demonstrates clear ideological extremism, such as Islamist extremism, the Prevent programme is well-equipped to intervene. But when individuals, like Rudakubana, show a dangerous obsession with extreme violence – without a clear ideology – the current system struggles to address the threat.
“The impact of what they do may be terrorising in the same way,” she said, explaining that such individuals can cause widespread fear, even if their motives are not linked to terrorism.
Kuenssberg once again pressed the home secretary on a solution and Cooper acknowledged that, in some cases, mental health services might need to take the lead, while in others, the police or social services should be more involved.
She claimed that the current approach is a legacy of previous failures and suggested that the inception of youth prevention partnerships, which would bring together different agencies, could be a step towards a more coordinated response.
But she said the inquiry into the Southport attack must focus on identifying how the system failed and how future tragedies can be prevented.
“We are not keeping up with the challenge that we’re seeing,” she said.
Downing Street previously promised action to address these issues. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced at the end of January that the government would look at changing laws to allow perpetrators of “extreme individualised violence,” like Rudakubana, to be charged with terrorism offences.
Reviews of the Prevent programme are already underway. This includes a comprehensive assessment of how referrals are handled, with particular focus on transferring individuals to the right services.
The has contacted X, Meta, TikTok, Google, and YouTube for comment.
