Today, the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT)––a group founded
by Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Twitter––will hold its annual Globa





<[link removed]>
<[link removed]>



Tech & Terrorism: GIFCT’s Effectiveness In Curbing Extremist Content Online In
Question Ahead Of Global Summit



(New York, N.Y.) — Today, the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism
(GIFCT)––a group founded by Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Twitter––will hold
its annualGlobal Summit <[link removed]> to discuss the
organization’s efforts in “prevent[ing] terrorist and violent extremists from
exploiting digital platforms.” Last year, the GIFCTannounced
<[link removed]>
that it would expand its hashing database, used and shared among its tech
company members to remove known extremist and terrorist content, to also
include far-right extremism. The database had previously focused on content
from Islamist extremists such as ISIS, al-Qaeda, and the Taliban.



The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) has consistently called on the GIFCT to
fulfill its promises to adopt effective industry standards and policies for
responding to extremists’ and terrorists’ misuse of Internet platforms and
services. But the GIFCT’s disappointing track record and inability to
coordinate content moderation practices across sites puts the public’s safety
at risk.



Mostly recently, the GIFCT’s failure
<[link removed]>
to curb extremist content online was exemplified in the mass shooting at a
Buffalo, New York grocery store, which was livestreamed on the Amazon-owned
platform Twitch. Twitch cut off the video within two minutes of the attack, but
the video was captured and shared across multiple other platforms including
Facebook and Twitter, among others. The video accumulated more than three
million views in a short time, calling into question whether progress had been
made by the GIFCT. The attack also drew haunting parallels to the 2015
Christchurch attack—a source of inspiration for the Buffalo shooter—that was
similarly livestreamed and subsequently widely proliferated.



“Despite the GIFCT’s pledge to tackle far-right extremism, in the last year,
these groups and individuals have continued to maintain apresence
<[link removed]>
online,” said UC Berkeley professor and CEP Senior AdvisorDr. Hany Farid
<[link removed]>. “Rather than simply
making yet another empty promise at this year’s summit, the GIFCT should
instead discuss and analyze specific reasons for why they failed to stop the
proliferation of the original radicalizing content and the livestream and
subsequent uploads of the Buffalo attack, especially when they had the benefit
of hindsight from Christchurch. Moreover, discussions should result in
clear-cut, concrete action that ensures industry-wide standards for consistent,
effective, and transparent removals of known terrorist and extremist content
across all sites and platforms.



CEP Executive Director David Ibsen
<[link removed]> added, “In the past year
alone, CEP has also flagged multiple accountsbelonging
<[link removed]>
to convicted ISIS supporter Anjem Choudary who continues toseek
<[link removed]>
new online platforms for his extremist rhetoric; theHouthis
<[link removed]>
and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a U.S.-designated Foreign
Terrorist Organization; and high rankingmembers
<[link removed]>
of U.S. Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) groups such as the
Taliban. The worst of the worst content is still available online. The tech
industry can either continue going down the same path it has been for years, or
it can step up and provide a solution to the problem they continue to
inadequately address.”



###





Unsubscribe
<[link removed]>