Self-appointed preachers on social media are inciting threats of violence against Members of Parliament, Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood has claimed.
His comments came after Justice Minister Mike Freer said he was stepping down as an MP at the next General Election due to the level of abuse that he has received and an arson attack on his office.
Ellwood told GB News: “We need to be fast, swifter, and be able to report and deal with social media and email abuse to make any individual think twice about sending such hate.
“We saw improvements made to MP’s security after David Amess was sadly killed, but they still don't go far enough.
“It's also worth pointing out I would say that the internet has taken over and, indeed, overshadows the pulpit in a mosque.
“There will always be a steady flow of misguided people who with scant knowledge of the Koran will be persuaded to leave a trail of disruption in this life and expect to be rewarded in the next or indeed want to cause harm in some way.”
In a discussion with Tom Harwood and Emily Carver, he continued: “The internet is that double edged sword and I'm afraid we failed to blunt one side of it…
“We clearly need to do more. These are dangerous times there's no doubt about it and Britain does need to craft the atmosphere and the environment that makes sure that we are safe and we stamp out this sort of behaviour.”
He added: “As I say, a lot of this, and Mike touched on it, is related to the internet.”
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