Writing for the EU Reporter, Counter Extremism Project (CEP) Executive Director
David Ibsen last week criticized Big Tech for failing to take responsi


<[link removed]>
<[link removed]>
ICYMI: Online Extremism Is Still A Problem For Big Tech

 

(New York, N.Y.) — Writing for the EU Reporter
<[link removed]>
, Counter Extremism Project (CEP) Executive Director David Ibsen last week
criticized Big Tech for failing to take responsibility for the spread of
extremist content on their platforms by deflecting blame onto smaller sites:

 

“In this new legislative climate, social media giants such as Facebook,
Twitter, and YouTube, who for years have been complacent, if not deliberately
negligent, in policing their platforms, are finally beginning to come under
pressure. Unsurprisingly, their belated efforts to appease governments through
self-regulatory initiatives such as Digital Trust and Safety Partnership are
already giving way to a search for scapegoats … Lately, Big Tech advocates have
begun to promote the idea that extremist and terrorist content online remains
an issue solely for smaller social media sites and alternative encrypted
platforms. While tackling extremism and terrorism on smaller and alternative
sites is certainly worth getting ahead of, the overall narrative here is more
than a little convenient for Silicon Valley and flawed in a number of crucial
respects.”

 

Ibsen then stressed the need for lawmakers to regulate Big Tech, as extremists
still rely on larger, mainstream platforms to expand their reach and impact:

 

“Every story of radicalisation starts somewhere and regulating Big Tech is the
greatest step we could possibly take to prevent ordinary citizens from being
drawn down extremist rabbit holes … And while dangerous and hateful content can
flow more freely on unmoderated sites, extremists and terrorists still desire
access to large, mainstream platforms. The near ubiquitous nature of Facebook,
Twitter, YouTube, and others offer extremists the ability to reach broader
audiences—to either terrify or recruit as many people as possible. For
instance, Christchurch killer Brenton Tarrant, who took to live streaming his
atrocities on Facebook Live, had his attack video re-uploaded more than 1.5
million times.”

 

Finally, Ibsen urged lawmakers to prioritize regulatory oversight of Big Tech
in order to prevent real-world violence from occurring:

 

“Whether it’s jihadists seeking to ignite a worldwide caliphate or neo-Nazis
trying to start a race war, the goal of terrorism today is to capture
attention, inspire like-minded extremists, and destabilise societies to the
greatest extent possible … To this end, the amplificatory effects of major
social media channels simply cannot be underestimated. It is one thing for an
extremist to communicate to a small group of ideological cohorts on an obscure
encrypted network. It is something entirely different for them to share their
propaganda with hundreds of millions of people on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube
… It would be no exaggeration to say that preventing the latter from happening
through effective regulation of Big Tech would help to fundamentally tackle
modern terrorism and prevent extremists and terrorists from attaining a
mainstream audience.”

 

To read David Ibsen’s op-ed in the EU Reporter, please click here
<[link removed]>
.

 

###

Unsubscribe
<[link removed]>