Baroness urges collective effort to tackle extremism online

Baroness Joanna Shields, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Internet Safety and Security, has delivered her opening speech at the Global Counter Terrorism Forum, discussing the threats posed by online radicalisation, response to counter the threat, and progress made so far. In her speech Shields warned that whilst the physical presence of Daesh in Iraq and Syria is diminishing, the ability of extremist groups to inspire and incite followers to commit acts of terror has not. Shields added that new and innovative methods to quickly identify and remove terrorist and violent extremist content and to deliver more effective strategic communications. Shields commented: “This ability to inspire and incite attacks globally, exemplifies the new direction and shift in Daesh’s own brand communications. Since 2013, Daesh’s approach to online communications has been characterised by constant innovation in attempt to ensure its propaganda reaches the vulnerable people it is designed to influence. “As early as 2014, before the majority of the public were aware of the group’s threat, Daesh were using bots to game Twitter and amplify their messaging.” Commenting on the UK government’s response, Shields said: “Research conducted by the UK government shows that the majority of links to Daesh content are shared within two hours of first release. “A new partnership is required where all parties – governments, civil society, industry, the media – work together to tackle terrorist and violent extremist use of the internet.” Praising the progress made by social media platforms, the Baroness said: “Last year, Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Twitter signed the EU Commission’s Code of Conduct, agreeing to take the lead in countering the spread of illegal hate speech online. “Facebook launched the online civil courage initiative in Germany and Google developed and initiated the ‘redirect method’ to deliver a curated counter narrative content response to search queries. YouTube has expanded its ‘trusted flagger’ scheme so problematic videos can be taken down quickly. “And Microsoft have strengthened their terms and conditions with zero tolerance language prohibiting violent extremist propaganda and hate speech and are developing new technologies to scan for terrorist and extremist images. “And Twitter has updated its terms and conditions to prohibit promoting violence against others and shut down 360,000 accounts for threatening or promoting terrorist acts.” However, Shields added that there was still more to be done. She concluded: “If we can come together and herald an era of shared responsibility we will defeat those that seek to divide us.”