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Social Networks Face Pressure to Combat Terrorism Amid San Bernardino Shooting

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

The recent shooting in San Bernardino, California, has put the spotlight on social networks' role in combating terrorism. President Barack Obama and 2016 Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton have called on tech companies to take action against terrorist content and propaganda. This has put pressure on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to balance user privacy with the need to prevent the spread of extremist messages.

Key Takeaways:

  • Facebook has acknowledged that the conversation around terrorism has changed and that they're willing to listen and act to keep their site free of terrorist content.
  • The company has zero tolerance for terrorists, terror propaganda, or the praising of terror activity and works aggressively to remove it as soon as they become aware of it.
  • However, backdoor policies, eliminating encryption, and transparency about how Facebook identified the shooter could all be vulnerable information, making it difficult for companies to comply with government requests without compromising user privacy.
  • Twitter has taken a more aggressive role in shutting down violent content, with over 10,000 accounts suspended in one day for tweeting violent threats in April 2015.
  • Other networks, including Facebook and Twitter, have been repeatedly open about their willingness to shut down accounts linked to terrorism.
  • Furthermore, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube collaborate with law enforcement and respond to government requests, but transparency reports show that they have been working to balance user privacy with the need to prevent the spread of extremist messages.

Statistics:

  • 78 ISIS-related channels were blocked by Telegram, an encrypted messaging service, following the attacks in Paris (ibtimes, 2015).
  • 10,000 accounts were suspended by Twitter in one day for tweeting violent threats in April 2015 (nytimes, 2015).
  • 2,000 accounts linked to ISIS were suspended by Twitter per week (nytimes, 2015).
  • 65 countries form an American-led coalition with the goal of destroying ISIS.
  • Millions of Chinese users in the United States and abroad use WeChat and Weibo, which have been worked on by the Chinese government and Chinese-based tech companies to block and put an end to terrorist-related content.

Sources:

  • "Shooter Tafsheen Malik wrote extremist Facebook messages." New York Daily News. (December 6, 2015)
  • "Facebook says it will keep on listening to suggestions for stopping terrorist content." New York Daily News. (December 9, 2015)
  • "Telegram is using its encryption to evade government orders to hand over user data." Reuters. (December 8, 2015)
  • "Paris attack perps used Telegram for communications." International Business Times. (December 8, 2015)
  • "Twitter says it suspended 10,000 ISIS-linked accounts in one day." New York Times. (April 10, 2015)
  • "Clinton urges Facebook, Twitter, YouTube to step up fight against ISIS." The Hill. (December 7, 2015)
  • "EU Home Affairs Commissioner calls on tech companies to combat terrorism." EU Internet Forum. (December 9, 2015)
  • "Chinese government worked to stop spread of political rumors on Weibo." The Washington Post. (November 23, 2015)
  • "Professor discusses importance of privacy in China." Georgetown University. (December 10, 2015)

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