Firms join forces in anti-terror move
Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube are joining forces to improve their efforts to remove terrorist-related content from their online services, following pressure that tech companies might not be doing enough to deter extremists from using their platforms.
The four companies said that they are creating a shared database of the most severe terrorist videos and images that they have removed from their sites.
The database, which will be hosted by Facebook, will store “hashes” — a kind of unique digital fingerprint created by a cryptographic algorithm — for each piece of content.
All photo and video content uploaded to the participating services will have its hash automatically checked against the database. If it matches a hash already stored there, the database will send the company to which the content has been uploaded a notification so that it can be manually reviewed for possible removal, Facebook said.
“We hope this collaboration will lead to greater efficiency as we continue to enforce our policies to help curb the pressing global issue of terrorist content online,” the company said.
The European Commission has warned the time is running out for US tech companies like Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and Google’s YouTube to prove they are serious about tackling hate speech or face further regulation.