By: Tiffany Walker
Many Silicon Valley tech firms are being asked to help the United States government disrupt the Islamic States’ communications and propaganda. Conversely, the tech firms do not seem to be responding well to this new call of action. However, this shared sentiment may have shifted following the recent shooting in San Bernardino, California.
Federal Officials and American Technology companies came together at a summit in San Jose, California, to discuss potential strategies to combat ISIS’s social media campaign. According to CNN, one area of focus is in tracking terrorists and levels of radicalization through social media. However, a push to use social media to track radicals will involve a necessary balance between protection of civil liberties and security.
The summit also focused on censoring ISIS propaganda. The U.S. government hopes tech and social media firms will block ISIS propaganda. Various tech firms such as Facebook have stated that they will help in the fight against ISIS. Melanie Ensign, the spokeswoman for Facebook, stated that “Facebook does not tolerate terrorists or terror propaganda and we work aggressively to remote it as soon as we become aware of it.”
Lastly, the US government and social media firms are working to launch a campaign to discredit ISIS. Top US officials have been setting up meetings with tech companies to find common ground on an approach to combating terrorism through the Internet. However, the government is asking media firms for a lot; specifically, allowing the government access to users information without a court order. The discussion between government officials and tech companies appears to be ongoing and evolving. We may see a final agreement within the next year.