Why we'd be right to fine big tech companies

Would it be easy to quantify their influence, in a court of law for example? Perhaps not, but they cannot act as if the internet is still an emerging "wild west" culture, as it was with the original web. Not when they are quick to lobby governments for new rules protecting their part of the corporate culture that forms the backbone of the new web.

Another argument is often implied, if not overtly stated, when it comes to holding these companies to account. It says that regulating the global companies is almost impossible, as they operate in so many nations, each of which will have different laws regarding press and media.

Attempting to regulate them, says this argument, will be futile and a waste of government (that is, public) resources.

Whilst it is true that social media companies operate in a global marketplace, they are still registered and head-quartered in a particular region.

These companies are not rootless organisations existing only in some ephemeral space called the Cloud. They are legal entities and, like any other companies, subject to legal limitations.

Of course, most companies can afford nothing like the lobbying power of a big-tech organisation. However, as battles between governments and tobacco companies proved, lobbying and marketing power don't always win the day when the public's well-being is at stake.

We can't take the analogy too far here, but holding tobacco companies to account for their impact on public health was a worthy use of public money. Does reigning in the power of big-tobacco in areas such as marketing and lobbying constitute censorship? Perhaps - but it is the right kind of censorship, as the UK's most recent health figures relating to smoking have suggested.

Governments, of the liberal democratic persuasion, will need to work together to bring pressure on technology companies to do more to reduce the incidence of extremist material. It only takes one YouTube video to help produce a Manchester bomber.

Yes, they will need the help of technology experts if they are to understand how the new media technologies actually work. But it would be in the best interests of socially-minded tech companies to assist governments with this. They will, in the end, prove themselves to be great global citizens. They will also help to preserve a safe space in which we can all communicate and collaborate.

They would also demonstrate that they are, as they often claim, long-sighted and truly strategic entrepreneurs.

Will regulation, with fines or other penalties stamp out the problem altogether? Almost certainly not. Is the best option for tackling the immediate problem? No and it would not be necessary if companies practised adequate self-regulation. But the situation is pressing. Penalties might at least significantly undermine the ability of repeat offenders to keep publishing their murderous content.

Would such measures drive extremists onto the encrypted "Dark Web", where you can buy weapons, drugs and even people, out of view of the public - and the police ? Possibly, but those who want a presence on the web's dirty underbelly are likely there already. (And, for proponents of the anti-censorship line, limiting the Dark Web would also represent a form of censorship.)