Google to join fight against online terror
WEB giant Google has vowed to crack down on terrorist websites as Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson rallies the EU today in the fight against “online evil”.
Google’s senior vice president Kent Walker said yesterday the company would work with other firms, including Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter, to “accelerate our joint efforts to tackle terrorism online”.
He said they would hire more experts and increase their use of technology to spot extremist and terrorism-related videos.
Mr Walker also pledged “a tougher stance” on videos with inflammatory religious or supremacist content. In future the videos will appear with a warning and will not be recommended or eligible for comments or user endorsements or earn revenue. YouTube will also target potential Islamic State recruits and redirect them towards anti-terrorist videos to help change their minds about joining.
Mr Walker, writing for the Financial Times website, said: “Extremists and terrorists seek to attack and erode our security and values. We must not let them.”
At a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg today, Mr Johnson will seek support for greater collaboration between tech firms and governments to deny IS terrorists the use of the web to radicalise the vulnerable or plot attacks. He said: “We need a common approach to ensure the problem gets solved.”