Global Internet Summit of the Global Internet Forum to Fight Terrorism (GIFCT)
Technology and terrorism: the effectiveness of the GIFCT in curbing extremist online content
On 27 July, the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) - a group founded by Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter - held its Global Summit. The aim was to discuss the organisation's efforts to prevent the use of digital platforms by terrorists and violent extremists. Last year, GIFCT announced that it would expand its database of passwords used and shared by its members to remove known extremist and terrorist content to include violent extremism. Previously, the database focused on content from Islamic extremists such as ISIS, al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) has consistently called on the GIFCT to deliver on its promises to adopt effective industry standards and policies to respond to the misuse of online platforms and services by extremists and terrorists. However, the GIFCT's disappointing track record and inability to coordinate content moderation practices across sites threatens public safety.
An example of the GIFCT's failure to curb extremist content online was the mass shooting at a grocery shop in Buffalo, New York, which was streamed live on the Amazon-owned platform - Twitch. The platform administrator cut the video within two minutes of the attack, but the video was captured and shared on a number of other online tools, including Facebook and Twitter, among others. The video amassed more than three million views in a short period of time, calling into question the progress made by GIFCT. The attack also drew worrying parallels to the 2015 Christchurch attack. - the source of inspiration for the Buffalo perpetrator - an event that was similarly live-streamed and then widely distributed.
The technology industry should provide a solution to a problem that is still not being adequately addressed. Discussions should result in clear, concrete actions that provide industry-wide standards for the consistent, effective and transparent removal of terrorist and extremist content from all sites and platforms.