Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter And Google Will Create Shared Database To Tackle Terror Propaganda

Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and Google have joined forces to tackle terror propaganda online by creating a database of unique digital fingerprints to help automatically spot terror related videos or images.

The information sharing initiative will kick-off in 2017 and will spread the means by which to identify content that companies should move to remove in order to curtail material that promoted terrorism.

Fighting terror propaganda

“Starting today, we commit to the creation of a shared industry database of “hashes” — unique digital “fingerprints” — for violent terrorist imagery or terrorist recruitment videos or images that we have removed from our services,” said Facebook.

“By sharing this information with each other, we may use the shared hashes to help identify potential terrorist content on our respective hosted consumer platforms. We hope this collaboration will lead to greater efficiency as we continue to enforce our policies to help curb the pressing global issue of terrorist content online.”

Each company will be able to independently assess whether to remove content flagged as being potential terror propaganda in relation to their policies and definitions of terrorist content. However, the database is intended to make it easier to spot dangerous propaganda amidst the mass of selfies, food photos and memes.

Technical details of the database and its construction have yet to be revealed by the quad of companies. But the move to create such a database appears to be in response to social networks being increasingly used at a recruitment platform for terrorists, which has seen the likes of Facebook and Twitter come under pressure from governments to tackle the propagation of extremism online.

Twitter has already been fairly active in trying to prevent activity related to terrorism on its network by pulling the plug on 235,000 accounts that violated its policies on the promotion of terrorism.

However, there are issues surrounding privacy and freedom of speech, though Facebook said the database will contain no personally identifiable information.

But concerns over privacy have often resulted in clashed between governments and tech companies, notably Apple with its refusal to unlock an iPhone belonging to a terrorist at the request of the FBI.

Are you a security pro? Try our quiz!

Roland Moore-Colyer

As News Editor of Silicon UK, Roland keeps a keen eye on the daily tech news coverage for the site, while also focusing on stories around cyber security, public sector IT, innovation, AI, and gadgets.

Recent Posts

Is the Digital Transformation of Businesses Complete?

Digital transformation is an ongoing journey, requiring continuous adaptation, strong leadership, and skilled talent to…

7 hours ago

Craig Wright Faces Contempt Claim Over Bitcoin Lawsuit

Australian computer scientist faces contempt-of-court claim after suing Jack Dorsey's Block and Bitcoin Core developers…

7 hours ago

OpenAI Adds ChatGPT Search Features

OpenAI's ChatGPT gets search features, putting it in direct competition with Microsoft and Google, amidst…

8 hours ago

Google Maps Steers Into Local Information With AI Chat

New Google Maps allows users to ask for detailed information on local spots, adds AI-summarised…

8 hours ago

Huawei Sees Sales Surge, But Profits Fall

US-sanctioned Huawei sees sales surge in first three quarters of 2024 on domestic smartphone popularity,…

9 hours ago

Apple Posts China Sales Decline, Ramping Pressure On AI Strategy

Apple posts slight decline in China sales for fourth quarter, as Tim Cook negotiates to…

9 hours ago