Extremist terrorist groups use social media to rally support around the world, using sites like Twitter to mobilize sympathizers into possible plots. But in a blog post earlier this month, Twitter says that kind of behaviour flagrantly violates its terms of service, and reports that it’s suspended tens of thousands of primarily pro-ISIS accounts since May.
“We have increased the size of the teams that review reports, reducing our response time significantly,” the company states. “We also look into other accounts similar to those reported and leverage proprietary spam-fighting tools to surface other potentially violating accounts for review by our agents.”
Terrorists use Twitter and mobile messaging apps like WhatsApp to communicate. Last month, a widow of an American killed in Jordan announced she’s suing Twitter for fuelling “the explosive growth” of ISIS, the group that reportedly carried out the attack at an Amman police center that took her husband’s life.
Twitter reminds us there’s no “magic algorithm” to completely halting extremist activity online, and it often involves making judgment calls based on very little information. The responsibility that falls on social media tech companies, however, is undeniable.
Image: AP file