The mayor of London read racist tweets about himself during SXSW as a plea for Facebook and Twitter to stop hate speech

Khan, the first Muslim mayor of a Western capital city, said he read the half a dozen tweets or so not to “be portrayed as a victim” or “ask for sympathy, but to illustrate that big tech has further to go in making the internet free of hate speech.

“But ask yourself this, what happens when young boys and girls from minority backgrounds see this kind of thing on their timelines or experience this themselves?” Kahn said.

Kahn warned that tweets like the ones addressed to him send a message to minority children that if they don’t look a certain way or subscribe to the same establishment beliefs, they will grow up thinking there’s no path for them in high-profile careers.

“We simply must do more to protect people online,” Kahn said.

Kahn urged companies like Facebook and Twitter to show “a stronger duty of care,” so that “social media platforms can live up to their promises to connect, unify, and democratize the sharing of information and be places where everyone feels welcomed and valued.”

The London mayor offered a few recommendations. He suggested that Facebook and Twitter remove offensive content and misinformation faster. If they don’t, he said, they should face fines.

Germany began enforcing a new rule in January that gives social media platforms just 24 hours to decide if something is hate speech. German police are investigating far-right politician Beatrix von Storch after she described Muslims as “barbarians” on Facebook and Twitter.

Kahn said he expects Londoners to pressure their representatives to create a similar rule.

“This isn’t about depriving people of free speech — this is about inciting hatred,” Kahn said. “This is about things that divide our community.”