At U.N., Britain to push internet firms to remove
extremist content quicker
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 [September 20, 2017]
By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The leaders of
Britain, France and Italy will push social media companies on Wednesday
to remove "terrorist content" from the internet within one to two hours
of it appearing because they say that is the period when most material
is spread.
British Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron and
Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni will raise the issue at an event
on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United
Nations.
Internet companies including Facebook Inc, Microsoft Corp Alphabet Inc's
Google said they will attend the meeting.
Google will be represented by general counsel Kent Walker, who will also
speak on behalf of a recently formed industry group called the Global
Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism.
Facebook is sending Monika Bickert, head of global policy management,
who is expected to make remarks reiterating the companies' commitment to
combating online extremism.
Microsoft is sending Dave Heiner, a senior policy advisor.
The European Union has threatened legislation if internet companies do
not step up efforts to police what is available on the web.
The British U.N. mission said May will welcome progress, but urge
companies to go "further and faster" to stop groups like Islamic State
spreading material that promotes extremism or shows how to make bombs or
attack pedestrians with vehicles.
"Terrorist groups are aware that links to their propaganda are being
removed more quickly, and are placing a greater emphasis on
disseminating content at speed in order to stay ahead," May plans to
tell the event.
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British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a meeting on action
to end modern slavery and human trafficking on the sidelines of the
72nd United Nations General Assembly at U.N. Headquarters in
Manhattan, New York, U.S., September 19, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan
McDermid
"Industry needs to go further and faster in automating the detection and removal
of terrorist content online, and developing technological solutions which
prevent it being uploaded in the first place," she will say.
Responding to pressure from governments in Europe and the United States after a
spate of militant attacks, key firms created the Global Internet Forum to
Counter Terrorism in June to share technical solutions for removing extremist
content and work more with counter-terrorism experts.
Twitter said it had removed 299,649 accounts in the first half of this year for
the "promotion of terrorism", a 20 percent decline from the previous six months,
although it gave no reason for the drop. Three-quarters of those accounts were
suspended before posting their first tweet.
May said ahead of Wednesday's event: "We need a fundamental shift in the scale
and nature of our response – both from industry and governments – if we are to
match the evolving nature of terrorists' use of the internet."
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Additional reporting by Paresh Dave and Joseph
Menn in San Francisco; Editing by Paul Tait)
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