Tech giants take a stand against extremist content
Tech giants Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Twitter have agreed to take stricter action regarding extremist content posted on their platforms. The accord was decided after representatives from these firms attended a two-day meeting with G7 nations in the Italian island of Ischia, marking the first time such firms participated in G7 talks. G7 nations lauded the agreement.
The G7's post-meeting statement
"We underscore the challenge to industry and we urge it... to develop solutions to identify and remove terrorist content within one to two hours of upload, to the extent it is technically feasible, without compromising human rights and fundamental freedoms," stated the G7.
Details of the agreement
Under the agreement, the tech giants are aiming to remove "terrorist" content from their platforms within two hours after being uploaded. The companies were also urged by the G7 nations to develop better detection tools for screening posts and categorizing them. The companies were also asked to report terrorist content uploads to authorities immediately.
Twitter's statement after the talks
Such an agreement was in the cards
Censorship and social media have, in recent times, shared a rather uneasy relationship characterized by wrongful censorship of legitimate content and negligence of extremist content. In September, UK Prime Minister Theresa May had urged tech companies to step up their efforts to remove extremist content faster. Meanwhile, MI5 head Andrew Parker said that allowing terrorists "safe spaces online" made them harder to detect.
