Downing Street presses ISPs over anti-terror measures

The UK's major internet service providers (ISPs) are to introduce new measures to tackle online extremism, the BBC reports quoting Downing Street as saying.

The ISPs had "committed" to strengthening their filters and adding a "public reporting button" to flag terrorism-related material.

But the ISPs told the BBC that no specific agreement had been made.

Campaigners called for transparency over what would be blocked.

Prime Minster David Cameron said technology companies had a "social responsibility" to deal with jihadists.

Mr Cameron told the Australian Parliament in Canberra that he was putting technology companies under pressure to deal with jihadist material.

"In the UK we are pushing them to do more, including strengthening filters, improving reporting mechanisms and being more proactive in taking down this harmful material," he said.

"We are making progress but there is further to go. This is their social responsibility - and we expect them to live up to it."

The proposed measures are believed to have stemmed from a meeting held last month to discuss ways in which technology firms could help tackle online extremism.

In a briefing note, No 10 said the ISPs had subsequently committed to filtering out extremist and terrorist material, and hosting a button that members of the public could use to report content.

It would work in a similar fashion to the reporting button that allows the public to flag instances of child sexual exploitation on the internet.