Tech companies move to target terrorist propaganda online
WASHINGTON — Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube are joining forces to more quickly identify the worst terrorist propaganda and prevent it from spreading online.
The new program announced Monday would create a database of unique digital “fingerprints” to help automatically identify videos or images the companies could remove.
The move by the technology companies, which is expected to begin in early 2017, aims to assuage government concerns — and derail proposed new federal legislation — over social media content that is seen as increasingly driving terrorist recruitment and radicalization, while also balancing free-speech issues.