Ultimatum for web giants over terrorist websites and propaganda
GOOGLE, Facebook and Twitter will today be hauled in front of world leaders and given a month to take down terrorist websites within two hours or face heavy fines.
Theresa May, the Prime Minister, will urge internet firms to go “further and faster” to stop the spread of terrorist material – including the development of new technology to stop it from appearing in the first place.
Separately the Government is also talking to Amazon and ebay about the sale of items on their websites that could help terrorists launch attacks.
Official figures show that 54,000 different websites containing advice on bomb making and committing attacks using trucks and knives were posted online by supporters of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant between August last year and May this year.
The first two hours after terrorist content has been posted is crucial as this is the time span when two thirds of
the propaganda is shared. Mrs May, Emmanuel Macron and Paolo Gentiloni, the prime minister of Italy, are meeting with the internet companies at the margins of the UN general assembly in New York today.
The Prime Minister will say: “Terrorist groups are aware that links to their propaganda are being removed more quickly, and are placing a greater emphasis on disseminating content at speed in order to stay ahead.”
“Industry needs to go further and faster in automating the detection and removal of terrorist content online, and developing technological solutions which prevent it being uploaded in the first place.” Google and Youtube have announced they are increasing their use of technology to help automatically identify terrorist videos. Facebook has also stated that it is looking at developing artificial intelligence to automate the identification of terrorist material.
Twitter said it had suspended almost a million accounts in two years for posting terrorist material. The social media platform has suspended over 930,000 accounts since 2015 as part of a terror crackdown and 300,000 accounts in six months this year.
An Amazon spokesman said: “All products sold on Amazon must adhere to our selling guidelines and we only sell products that comply with UK laws. “In light of recent events, we are reviewing our website to ensure that all these products are presented in an appropriate manner.
“We also continue to work closely with police and law enforcement agencies when circumstances arise where we can assist their investigations.”
Meanwhile, the family of the Syrian refugee arrested as part of the investigation into the Parsons Green bombing has insisted the suspect “wouldn’t hurt an ant” and “loves” the UK.
Yahyah Farroukh, 21, was the second person to be arrested in connection with the attack last Friday which injured 30 people. In an interview with an Arab television station, Mr Farroukh’s brother and sister-in-law, both Syrian refugees living in the Netherlands, said he “will be cleared soon”.
“I’m shocked by his arrest,” the brother said. “He’s ambitious, loves the UK and studies to be a journalist. I can’t believe he has anything to do with terrorism. I spoke [on] Thursday or Friday over [the] phone with Yahyah. He was normal.” The sister-in-law added: “He wouldn’t hurt an ant.”
Another brother, Hamad, told the Mailonline: “He is a good guy. He would not hurt anyone. My father, God bless his soul, brought us up to live decently and with high morals. Yahyah has never mingled with bad guys or militants or Daesh [Isil] people.”
Meanwhile, a 25-year-old man was arrested last night in Newport in connection with the Parsons Green attack.