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In setting out the work program for the past 12 months, the group’s shared objective was to collaborate across industry, government, and civil society “to map content-sharing algorithms and processes used by industry that may facilitate consumption of content that may increase user interest in or amplify terrorist and violent extremist content and consider positive interventions and risk mitigation points.” This report focuses on the first part of that objective: To map content-sharing algorithms and processes used by industry. The potential role of content-sharing algorithms in radicalization and violent extremist recruitment continues to be an issue of focus. Yet there is little understanding about what those algorithms are and how they might be misused, contribute to radicalization, or be exploited by violent extremist groups and bad actors. This document is the first step in contributing to that understanding.

In setting out the work program for the past 12 months, the shared objective of the group was to collaborate across industry, government, and civil society “to map contentsharing algorithms and processes used by industry that may facilitate consumption of content that may increase user interest in or amplify terrorist and violent extremist content and consider positive interventions and risk mitigation points.” This report focuses on the second part of the objective in considering positive interventions and risk mitigation points. GIFCT’s mission is focused on preventing terrorists and violent extremists from exploiting digital platforms. For the purposes of this work we have taken a content-agnostic approach and sought to map positive interventions already used in the countering violent extremism (CVE) space as well as those that have been used elsewhere but could be applied to CVE. The use of counter and alternative narratives is recognized as an online CVE mechanism for connecting users to alternative sources of information. Yet there is less awareness of the uses of other forms of positive interventions.

As we seek to broaden and diversify our membership, and as the nature of terrorist and violent extremist activity online evolves, GIFCT must focus on developing rights-based technical solutions that are thoughtful, practical, and scalable. In our view, hash-sharing is an innovative and important first step in GIFCT’s efforts to share information among member companies and thereby promote more effective content moderation. But hashsharing is only one piece of the puzzle. When it comes to technical solutions and industry collaboration to address terrorist and violent extremist exploitation of the internet, much more remains to be done. GIFCT looks forward to working with our diverse stakeholder community to advance this collaborative effort in service of a safer and more open internet
and world.

The internet clearly matters to terrorists, but online content by itself rarely causes people to carry out terrorist attacks. Responses should therefore not be limited to the mass removal of terrorist content from online platforms.

It is an undeniable fact that the issue of terrorism, both as a theoretical
area of analysis and as a practical phenomenon, has grown exponentially
in significance over the past few decades. Indeed, terrorism has for some
time stopped being a term solely discussed in academic settings and in
strategic documents, but has recently been introduced in our everyday
lexicon in ways that are far more profound than in the past. Put more
simply, in understanding the extremely intricate nature of today’s international
affairs, the analysis of the concept and praxis of terrorism no
longer belongs to an obscure area of study, and has developed into an
urgent necessity, as a means of exploring how to respond to the phenomenon
in an appropriate manner.
As the illustrative examples of the rise of al-Qaeda and Daesh and
their expanded global landscape of terrorist attacks indicate, this dual
realisation that terrorism has unequivocally become a part of our reality
and that its analysis has become more urgent than ever is particularly
true of what has been widely termed as “Islamic fundamentalist terrorism”.
Due to the kaleidoscopic interests involved in it, the multifarious
dynamics that have been at play in the region from which it has primarily
originated, and the multiplicity of its actors, methods and cause, Islamic
terrorism has come to the fore of our attention in spectacular fashion,
necessitating consistent and rigorous analysis.
8 Daesh and the terrorist threat: from the Middle East to Europe
This book is focused precisely on this area. Covering a wide range of
pertinent aspects and referring to the causal links and history behind this
strand of terrorism in various countries of the world, this book intends to
provide an in-depth look at the rise and evolution of Islamic fundamentalist
terrorism. Divided into three parts, the first one focusing on the
Middle East and Africa region, the second one on the recruiting methods,
financing and propaganda instruments used by Islamic terrorist organisations,
and the last part on the evolution of the phenomenon in a select
few European countries, it attempts to answer some of the very basic
questions surrounding this very important topic.
What are the causes behind the phenomenon? What are its principal
methods of recruiting and financing? What are the primary challenges in
designing and implementing a comprehensive strategy to tackle it? Why
has it spread in the Middle East and Africa? What explains its presence in
Europe? These are all relevant questions into which this book attempts to
offer much needed insights, aimed to aid our shared understanding concerning
the past, present and future of Islamic terrorism. What is more,
and perhaps more crucially, drawing from the analysis, it also provides a
set of conclusions with a view to assisting the reader to better comprehend
what is needed in order to minimise the future ramifications of this
strand of terrorism and severely undermine its future dynamics.

A revealing and gripping investigation into how social media platforms police what we post online—and the large societal impact of these decisions. Most users want their Twitter feed, Facebook page, and YouTube comments to be free of harassment and porn. Whether faced with “fake news” or livestreamed violence, “content moderators”—who censor or promote user-posted content—have never been more important. This is especially true when the tools that social media platforms use to curb trolling, ban hate speech, and censor pornography can also silence the speech you need to hear.

In this revealing and nuanced exploration, award-winning sociologist and cultural observer Tarleton Gillespie provides an overview of current social media practices and explains the underlying rationales for how, when, and why these policies are enforced. In doing so, Gillespie highlights that content moderation receives too little public scrutiny even as it is shapes social norms and creates consequences for public discourse, cultural production, and the fabric of society. Based on interviews with content moderators, creators, and consumers, this accessible, timely book is a must-read for anyone who’s ever clicked “like” or “retweet.”