U.S. Tech Firms to Join Forces on Take Down of Terror Content
December 05 2016 - 6:29PM
Dow Jones News
By Natalia Drozdiak
BRUSSELS -- Alphabet Inc.'s YouTube, Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc.
and Microsoft Inc. on Monday announced they would form a shared
database of identifiers of online terror images and videos in a bid
to speed up the takedown of content that has helped terror cells
recruit followers and spread radical ideas on the Web.
"There is no place for content that promotes terrorism on our
hosted consumer services," Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube
said in a joint statement. "We hope this collaboration will lead to
greater efficiency as we continue to enforce our policies."
In the statement, the four U.S. tech giants said they agreed to
assign the violent material they take down all around the world a
so-called hash, which maps out an image or a video's unique
characteristics in code that computers can read. The companies will
then share that hash with each other so the other firms can more
rapidly determine whether they too need to remove that information
from their platforms.
Internet companies have faced pressure from authorities to speed
up the takedown of terrorist content, such as Islamic State
propaganda videos, from their websites. Authorities in Europe have
been particularly vocal after terror groups and lone wolves
launched a number of deadly terror attacks on the continent in
recent months.
The companies said they would begin sharing the identifiers
early next year to first allow time to implement some of the
technical details.
In the statement, the companies clarified that the content
flagged by another firm wouldn't automatically be taken down on all
four platforms. The companies would still check whether content
flagged by another company violates their own respective policies
before taking the information down from their platforms.
But the companies are typically aligned on what is understood to
be the most violent content that needs to be expunged from internet
websites, they said.
The companies said the agreement comes out of regular meetings
with European Union officials as part of what is called the EU
Internet Forum, which was formed to devise strategies around
preventing terrorists from using the companies' platforms to
promote their violent agendas. The companies' announcement comes
ahead of an EU Internet Forum meeting later this week.
The companies said they would be open to including other
internet companies as part of the database project.
Earlier this year, the same four companies agreed with the EU to
a code of conduct on the internet, pledging to remove from their
websites information visible in Europe that incites hatred or acts
of terror, within 24 hours of receiving a complaint.
Write to Natalia Drozdiak at natalia.drozdiak@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 05, 2016 18:14 ET (23:14 GMT)
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