In an effort to crackdown on possible terrorist content on their platforms, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft and Google’s YouTube are discussing how they would approach flagging it.
Discerning which online content post would be flagged versus another online post that wouldn’t be flagged, the tech firms have the challenge of balancing freedom of expression with preventing illegal activity and respecting users’ privacy. They also face the potentially contentious task of determining what constitutes terrorist content, CNN reported.
As a starting point, the companies said they want to set up a shared database to help them track and remove “violent terrorist imagery or terrorist recruitment videos,” CNN reported. Within the database, it will contain digital “fingerprints” of the images and videos, allowing the tech firms to identify potential terrorist content more efficiently, the companies said in a statement Monday.
Among terrorist organizations to utilize the internet, ISIS has proven adept at using social media for propaganda and recruitment, CNN reported. Streamlining the process of reducing terrorists’ digital footprint began in January, and US officials have said, they have noticed a decline in ISIS traffic over the previous two years. Accounts and users have been removed as potential dangerous individuals.
The tech firms will start the terrorist content database with the digital fingerprints of “the most extreme and egregious terrorist images and videos we have removed from our services,” they said. Fingerprints for offending content found on one company’s platform can be added so that the other participants can check if it’s been posted on theirs as well, according to the companies’ statement.
Do you think Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, and Google’s YouTube should flag potential online terrorist posts?
