Google announces new policies to weed out terrorism content
The tech company, along with its competitors, have been facing increased pressure to curb the spread of extremist articles and videos online.
The search giant’s parent company, Alphabet, said it will work to identify and suppress video content that supports these radical views.
To that end, it will increase the amount of workers screening for this type of content and drastically reducing its reach. The company stopped short of saying it will get rid of the content altogether, saying that though the content is not verboten, it can contribute in spreading dangerous thinking that can lead to terrorist action.
Google general counsel Kent Walker addressed the issue in a recent Financial Times editorial.
“While we and others have worked for years to identify and remove content that violates our policies, the uncomfortable truth is that we, as an industry, must acknowledge that more needs to be done,” Walker wrote.
Terrorists have been using YouTube, among other sites, to help spread propaganda and recruit potential followers.
Government officials in the United Kingdom praised Google in a statement that it issued to multiple media outlets, while calling for more tech companies to join the fight:
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