23:28

Theresa May will urge G7 leaders today to tell technology firms that they should do more to suppress extremist content online, arguing that the fight against Islamic State is shifting from the “battlefield to the internet”.

The prime minister will tell fellow leaders at the summit in Sicily that every country should encourage companies such as Facebook, Google and Twitter to block users who post extremist content and report individuals to authorities if there is evidence of imminent harm.



Addressing a small group of powerful counterparts, including Donald Trump and new French president Emmanuel Macron, May will argue that more has to be done to tackle the threat posed by extremist content online in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena attack.

The prime minister believes that cooperation between major industrial countries could help force the social media companies to:



develop tools that could automatically identify and remove harmful material based on what it contains and who posted it



tell the authorities when harmful material is identified so that action can be taken, and

revise conditions and industry guidelines to make them absolutely clear about what constitutes harmful material.