In the crosshairs: Social networks gunning for extremist groups

Jihadists are in the cross-hairs of U.S. social networks who are battling to enforce policies banning gruesome videos showing beheadings or hateful scenes such as flaunting hostages. The Islamic State’s (IS) success at disseminating propaganda on social networks such as Twitter or YouTube has in turn given rise to online communities dedicated to vigilantly reporting posts that appear to violate rules laid out in terms-of-service. “We review all reported content against our rules, which prohibit unlawful use and violent threats,” Twitter said in response to an AFP inquiry.

I think all of the platforms have some room for improvement; it is not a perfect science. There may be a focused response around these videos, but calling it a crackdown would be going too far.

Emma Llanso, director of the free expression project at the Center for Democracy and Technology

Online social networks face the challenge of balancing free speech, worthy news events, and the desire not to be used as tools by extremist groups bent on violence and hate. But they do seem to be keenly enforcing content rules in dealing with posts by IS, which has earned a reputation for slickly wielding Internet tools to spread its message and recruit members. In August, Twitter removed photos and video of the beheading of U.S. journalist James Foley that had been posted online by jihadists. Facebook also flat-out bars extremist groups known for violent tactics from using the website.

Technology