An inter-platform anti-terrorism program will be launched to target far-right and white supremacist material. It will flag content for moderation on Facebook and Twitter as well as Dropbox and other services. Reuters published the news in an interview with Nicholas Rasmussen (executive director, Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism) this morning.GIFCT was launched by Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft and YouTube in 2017. It maintains a database that contains terrorist content. This allows members to search for it and request its removal. The database originally contained material from a United Nations-designated group of sanctioned organizations. This meant that it was heavily focused on Islamist extremist groups like the Taliban and Islamic State. However, there were exceptions for specific far-right incidents such as the 2019 Christchurch shooting.Reuters reports that GIFCT is expanding its list to include material from the UN Tech Against Terrorism initiative as well as the Five Eyes international intelligence partner. This means that content from groups such as the Three Percenters militia and the Proud Boy, which Canada designated a terrorist entity in May, will be added to the list.GIFCTs Database helps Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn flag contentGIFCT's initial database contained hashed identifiers to images and video. A spokesperson for GIFCT told The Verge that the organization will add three types of content to its database over the next months: PDFs of terrorist and violent extremist attackers as well as terrorist publications with specific branding and logos. Reddit and Snapchat, Microsoft's LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have access to the database. They can then use this database to make moderation decision according to their policies.Protocol gives more details about what's being added and describes the expansion as modest. Erin Saltman, GIFCT director for programming, said that the group will not include content from loosely-organized groups such as the Boogaloo movement or QAnon. However, material like a killers agenda might be banned if a member is involved in a violent extremist attack. Saltman says there is a lot to be concerned about over-censorship especially with close political ties.Over-censorship is a concern.GIFCT is expanding as national governments take a closer look into far-right terrorists. Although the US doesn't designate domestic terrorist groups in the same way as foreign organizations, President Joe Bidens administration has called for tougher measures against homegrown extremism after the arrest of three Proud Boys and Three Percenters who were accused of participating in the January 6th riots at the US Capitol.Saltman points out that companies are cautious about GIFCT expanding beyond the existing terrorist group lists, fearing it might undermine the credibility and legitimacy of the list. Although there are still designation lists and frameworks, it is impossible to agree on a definition of terrorist acts at the UN level. Companies were being held to the same standards or higher, and being asked to do more than what governments can, which makes them a bit wary of being that powerful gatekeeper. Rasmussen expressed concern about over-moderation. She said that if you are too ambitious in this area, it can lead to violating another person's right on the internet to express themselves freely.
