LABOUR is calling for social media firms to be prosecuted if they fail to act against anti-vaxx disinformation being published on their platforms.

The party is urging the government to not waste a “once in a generation” opportunity to crack down on harmful online content, including posts that show people to how to self-harm or commit suicide, promote hate speech or promote disinformation.

Labour wants the forthcoming Online Harms Bill to empower the proposed regulator to issue financial penalties if social media platforms fail to remove such material.

The proposals would give the state sweeping censorship powers over the web.

Where there are persistent breaches of the law, senior company executives should face criminal penalties, the party said. 

The government is set to publish its response to the online harms white paper more than 18 months after it first promised to do so. 

Shadow digital secretary Jo Stevens said: “The internet should be a safe place for everyone and this legislation must be ambitious in its scope.”

Labour has been accused of preventing free discussion in its own branches by using the claim that debating certain topics, such as the suspension of its ex-leader Jeremy Corbyn, prevents them from being “safe places.”