Google: We’ll make new tools to tackle terrorists online

GOOGLE and some of the world’s biggest internet companies agreed last night to create new “technical tools to identify and remove terrorist propaganda” in the wake of the Westminster terrorist attack.

The companies, which also included Facebook and Twitter, also agreed to look at options “to accelerate” how they take down extremist content.

However, they were criticised for paying “lip service” to the problem by failing to commit fully to setting up an industry body to tackle the problem.

Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, summoned executives from Google, Twitter, Facebook and Microsoft to a summit at the Home Office after the terrorist attack on Westminster last week. After the meeting the companies agreed to “look at all options for structuring a forum to accelerate and strengthen” their work to tackle online extremism.

This would “enhance and broaden the current informal collaboration sessions that companies already conduct”. They also agreed to share “exper- tise of more established” internet firms with younger internet businesses.

They also pledged to “support the efforts of civil society organisations to promote alternative and counter-narratives” against extremism online.

Last night MPs on the Home Affairs select committee, criticised Ms Rudd for not requiring the internet companies to do more. Yvette Cooper, the committee’s chairman, said: “Having meetings about meetings just isn’t good enough when there is still illegal terrorist recruitment propaganda up online.”

It was revealed yesterday that the Westminster attacker was an economics graduate from the University of Sussex. Adrian Ajao, a Muslim convert, took a bachelor’s degree in economic history during the 1990s.