Countering the dissemination of online content relating to violent extremist and terrorist incidents was the focus of discussions during CTED’s first ever Insight Briefing on 25 August 2022.
This first Insight Briefing focused on technology-related responses to the dissemination of online violent extremist and terrorist incident content. It showcased the latest efforts from the tech sector to counter the use of information and communication technologies for terrorist activity, in line with Security Council resolution 2129 (2013).
David Scharia, Director and Head of the Technical Expertise and Research Branch of CTED, in opening remarks, highlighted the crucial role the private sector and more specifically, the technological sector must play in countering terrorism and violent extremism. He further pointed out that this first Insight Briefing reflected the nature of CTED’s collaboration with the global tech industry in tackling terrorist use of the internet, whilst respecting human rights.
Presenting on their individual roles in countering the dissemination of terrorist content on the Internet, the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GICFT) and Tech Against Terrorism (TaT) explained that their tools are built to detect, analyse, flag and eliminate terrorist content.
GIFCT outlined how in March 2019, following the broadcasting and livestreaming of the terrorist shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, GIFCT had launched the Content Incident Protocol (CIP) to guide the collective response among GIFCT members to content produced and disseminated online as part of a terrorist or mass violent attack. The CIP operates within GIFCT’s Incident Response Framework (IRF) and utilizes a centralized communications tool for sharing information between GIFCT and its members about ongoing incidents that could potentially result in the spread of violent extremist content online.
Since then, GIFCT and its members have used the CIP and the IRF to guide how to identify the publication and dissemination of online content relating to violent extremist and terrorist attacks and subsequently remove related content. The IRF helps member companies respond in a coordinated manner to terrorist incidents with a significant online aspect, particularly where perpetrator produced content is circulated, was the central focus of the event.
TaT presented its Terrorist Content Analytics Programme (TCAP), a tool it developed that enables the swift detection and removal of verified terrorist content on tech platforms, and highlighted several key trends identified through its use.
Both GIFCT and TaT also broadly discussed the nature of the counter terrorism support they lend to tech companies, their approaches to handling violent extremist content online and the lessons learnt from their experiences in tackling violent extremist content.