Cyber Series – Google and YouTube Combat Cyber Terrorism with New Four-Step Plan

Monday 3 July 2017

Article by Brittany Arnett

 

In the wake of the terror attacks in Manchester and London, Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain denounced large social media companies for providing a “safe space” for radical ideologies to spread and flourish.

The Prime Minister is not at all incorrect – social media platforms can and have been a hotbed for terrorist recruitment, incitement, propaganda, and the spread of radical thinking. Social media offers a way for individuals to connect from all over the world, and even in different languages. YouTube , a Google-owned site, is especially problematic as it allows individuals to upload their own videos on the web, oftentimes allowing extremist content. With the increase in terrorist attacks and links to their inspiration from social media, Google recently announced a four-step plan to limit the threat of violent content on its servers.

The plan is as follows:

- Increase technology to help identify extremist and terrorism-related videos. YouTube’s existing technology can pick up more than 50% of such violent content online, however plans are being put in motion to boost this number.
 
- Increase YouTube’s Trusted Flagger program, a group of volunteers who rate videos as inappropriate, and fund fifty more non-governmental organizations with expertise in matters like hate speech, self-harm, and terrorism.
 
- Control potentially harmful videos that do not breech Google’s guidelines. Videos that promote religious or supremacist content without violence, for instance, will be preceded by warnings, will not allow comments or sharing features, and will not be monetised by ads.
 
- Use mining data to redirect potential ISIS recruits, based on the content they seek online, towards anti-terrorist videos. Such videos will aim to change their mindset and counteract the ideologies they are seeking out.
 

Although Google’s plans for counteracting terrorist content seem clear-cut, they are trickier to implement than meets the eye. One reason is about 400 hours of video gets uploaded to YouTube per minute, making it extremely difficult to monitor what is being circulated in real time. This makes it very easy for some videos to slip through the cracks – and in some cases, one video is all it takes to inspire violence.

Another issue all cyber youtube 2social media sites fall victim to is free speech. Although most content is being produced elsewhere, these social media companies are based in the United States and thus enjoy rights such as the First Amendment to protect their opinion. Google’s response to this problem was to strip the ability for videos to gain traction, by removing comments and ads. Google’s general counsel Kent Walker said that this method will “strike the right balance between free expression and access to information without promoting extremely offensive viewpoints.”

In the past, companies have pulled ads from YouTube in fear that their brands will inadvertently fund terrorist groups. This is thanks to YouTube’s algorithm that allows uploaders to receive payment for their videos if they allow advertisements prior to viewing. Therefore, this four-step plan is Google’s way to also assure advertisers that they will have nothing to worry about.

Despite the difficulty with properly monitoring the vast array of content on different social media platforms, Google’s effort for YouTube is commendable. This new plan takes the right strides in preventing and limiting access to threatening content that can promote terrorism and incite violence all while protecting free speech. This is just one of the many initiatives social media platforms must implement in order to protect our world.

 
Brittany Arnett is currently interning at AmCham in Sydney. 

Click here for the next instalment in our ‘Cyber Series’, when we explore what Facebook is doing in response to the spread of extremism via its platform. Plus, stay tuned for the final part of the series looking at Twitter’s response! 

For more information on how you can contribute to the AmCham blog, check out our ‘AmCham Blog Guidelines‘ or contact our office today.

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