Cameron to Press Obama on Facebook Handling of Terror Chat

By Robert Hutton

Photographer: Jewel Samad/AFP va Getty Images

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron will raise the way Facebook Inc. and other internet... Read More

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron will raise the way Facebook Inc. (FB) and other Internet companies handle posts by extremists when he meets Barack Obama in Washington over the next two days, according to an official familiar with his plans.
The premier joined other U.K. lawmakers in criticizing social-media companies last year after a report into the murder of Lee Rigby, a British soldier, found one of the killers had talked about his intentions online. The message wasn’t drawn to the attention of authorities.
Cameron has asked Nigel Sheinwald, former U.K. ambassador to Washington, to find ways of getting technology companies to share data with British authorities even though they’re mainly under U.S. jurisdiction. He’ll discuss the issue with Obama tomorrow as
part of wider talks about security, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.
The prime minister’s visit to the U.S., less than four months before Britain votes for a new government, is focused on the same themes as his re-election campaign: economic prosperity and global security.
Cameron’s Conservative Party is trailing in opinion polls and the two days of talks in Washington, closing with a joint press conference in the White House tomorrow, will be used to emphasize his status as a world leader.

Economy Briefing

While the trip will lack the glamor of Cameron’s 2012 visit, when he and his wife were treated to a banquet and ball on the White House lawn, it represents more time with the president than Ed Miliband, the leader of the U.K.’s opposition Labour Party, has managed. Obama “dropped by” a meeting Miliband was having in the White House in July, and stayed for about 25 minutes.
On his arrival in Washington today, the prime minister is due to be briefed on economic matters by a panel including the head of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen. He will then have dinner with Obama.
On the agenda over dinner is maintaining a global focus on energy security when the price of oil is falling and the prospect of a trade deal between the U.S. and the European Union.

Joint Article

“Over the last few years, our governments have worked closely to restore economic growth, improve our living standards and make sure families get the help they needed,” the two leaders wrote in a joint article for today’s Times newspaper. “Yet we know that progress and prosperity are never guaranteed. We must do all we can to bolster our economies against another global economic downturn.”
The visit will be marked by the announcement of deals worth 1.1 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) between U.S. and U.K. companies, including plans by the Carlyle Group LP (CG) to invest 660 million pounds of equity capital in the North Sea oil and gas industry, Cameron’s office said.
Tomorrow the prime minister will return to the White House for a second day of talks, this time focused on global security. Subjects scheduled for discussion include cybersecurity, where U.K. companies are trying to sell technology to the U.S., as well as online extremism.
Facebook says it doesn’t allow terrorist content on its site and tries to prevent it. Nevertheless, Cameron said last year that social networks have a “social responsibility to act” when “their networks are being used to plot murder and mayhem.” Rigby’s family have also said they blame Internet companies for his death.

‘Can’t Undo’

Britain also wants to ensure that extremists aren’t using social networks to communicate in ways that intelligence agencies can’t intercept. While accepting the importance of encryption to protect personal information, such as bank details, it is seeking cooperation to break down encryption used by potential terrorists.
“Most of the servers and services and new technologies we use to communicate with each other are organized or owned, and the technology designed, by companies on the other side of the planet, many of them in the United States,” Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said in a phone-in show on LBC Radio today. “You can’t undo encryption, but you can make sure you cooperate with the companies, so that when you want to break that encryption and find out what nasty people are saying to each other we can do so.”
The prime minister will also use the meeting to press for the release of Shaker Aamer, the last Briton still held in Guantanamo Bay, the official said.