Google’s creative tool to control online terrorism

“Terrorism poses a grave threat to humanity, not only through explicit violent acts such as human suicide bombings but also through implicit methods like spreading hatred and extremist ideologies via online social platforms. To combat this menace of “social information terrorism,” Google has introduced an innovative tool aimed at its containment.

Reportedly, Google has developed a free tool, named ‘Altitude,’ in collaboration with Jigsaw, a unit within Google specializing in tracking disinformation, extremism, and censorship. Additionally, a non-profit organization known as ‘Tech Against Terrorism’ is involved in this initiative. This tool is designed to assist small online platforms in addressing disturbing terrorist content.

Altitude offers small online platforms access to a centralized database containing content created by terrorist organizations. This database, previously maintained by the United Nations and endorsed by the online counter-terrorism group Tech Against Terrorism, is already in use by major tech companies.

The tool’s primary objective is to empower smaller platforms to easily and efficiently identify and remove terrorist content from their networks. It is part of a broader effort, working in collaboration with the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, an industry-led group founded in 2017 by Microsoft, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

Yasmin Green, CEO of Jigsaw, emphasized the persistent online presence of groups like the Islamic State, stating, “Islamic State and other terrorist groups didn’t abandon the internet just because they lost access to their major social media platforms. They adapted and sought opportunities to host content on file-sharing sites and other smaller and medium-sized platforms.”

In addition to content identification and removal, ‘Altitude’ will also provide contextual information about the terrorist groups associated with the content.

Tech Against Terrorism has already been engaged with over 100 platforms, including video-sharing platforms, messaging apps, forums, and social media networks, in its mission to combat online terrorism.