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New tech to detect terrorist content online

The Home Office and ASI Data Science have announced the development of new technology to automatically detect terrorist content present on online platforms. The technology, which analyses the audio and visuals of a video to determine whether it could be terrorist propaganda, has proven to automatically detect 94 per cent of ISIS propaganda with 99.995 per cent accuracy. The tool can be used by any platform and stops the majority of any video propaganda before it ever reaches the internet. Although many of the larger tech companies have developed technology specific to their own platforms, many of the smaller platforms are increasingly being targeted by ISIS and its supporters as they often do not have the same level of resources to develop technology. The announcement was made as Home Secretary Amber Rudd visits San Francisco’s Silicon Valley to meet Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen to discuss how the UK and US can work together to tackle terrorist content online. Rudd said: “Over the last year we have been engaging with internet companies to make sure that their platforms are not being abused by terrorists and their supporters. I have been impressed with their work so far following the launch of the Global Internet Forum to Counter-Terrorism, although there is still more to do, and I hope this new technology the Home Office has helped develop can support others to go further and faster. “The purpose of these videos is to incite violence in our communities, recruit people to their cause, and attempt to spread fear in our society. We know that automatic technology like this, can heavily disrupt the terrorists’ actions, as well as prevent people from ever being exposed to these horrific images. This government has been taking the lead worldwide in making sure that vile terrorist content is stamped out.”

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