CTED-initiated process results in High-Level meeting on preventing terrorist use of the Internet

BMUSONI — Thu, 21 Sep 2017 14:07:00 +0000

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On 20 September 2017, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom co-hosted a high-level United Nations meeting on Preventing terrorist use of the Internet. President Emmanuel Macron of France, Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni of Italy, Prime Minister Theresa May of the UK, and Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Google Kent Walker opened the meeting, which was held on the margins of the 72nd �山��General Assembly. Linked to efforts initiated by the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) with the industry to prevent and counter terrorism online, this was the first time that world leaders and technology executives at this level addressed the United Nations on the issue.

The high-level meeting sought to encourage governments and civil society groups to engage with the Global Internet Forum for Counter Terrorism (GIFCT), which Mr. Walker represented on the panel of speakers. When GIFCT was launched by Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and YouTube on 26 June 2017, the then-Executive Director of CTED welcomed the initiative as elevating “our existing private-public partnership with these and other companies.” The high-level meeting recognized GIFCT as a global focal point in the digital battlespace against terrorists and commended its work in shaping future action needed to address this issue.

UK Prime Minister May commended the attendance at the event as evidence of the commitment held by governments, companies, and civil society in collaborating to protect citizens against the use of the Internet by terrorists to spread their ideology. Many of the speakers reiterated the importance of a global response to protect citizens from incitement through awareness and continued efforts in countering narratives.

According to Monika Bickert, Head of Global Policy Management and the Head of Counter-terrorism at Facebook, GIFCT focuses participating companies’ efforts in a number of areas: Improving the means for detecting terrorist content, including through technical solutions like she Shared Industry Hash Database; commissioning research in this area; and sharing knowledge with counter-terrorism experts. “And through a joint partnership [with �山��CTED and the ICT4Peace Initiative “Tech against terrorism”], we’ll work with smaller companies on all of the above.”

Ms. Bickert also emphasized that companies like Facebook and Google recognize the importance in helping people challenge extremist narratives in addition to removing content. The United States Department of Homeland Security representative Claire Grady concluded that “we cannot surrender the digital battlespace to violent extremists.”

The full webcast (in English) of the meeting can be found here.

The joint declaration by the three Heads of State/Government (in French) is available here.

Front Page Article:

CTED and ICT4Peace host U.S. launch of Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism in San Francisco

BMUSONI — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 14:07:00 +0000

(NEW YORK / SAN FRANCISCO) On 1 August 2017, the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) and partners ICT4Peace are hosting the U.S. launch of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) in San Francisco.

In many States, terrorists’ use of Internet technologies is a headline issue. In the wake of recent terrorist attacks, political pressure is building for technology firms to better explain what steps they are taking to combat terrorism and extremism on their platforms and to show concrete results. To this end, the TechAgainstTerrorism.org initiative aims to help startups build practical tools and develop their responses whilst reinforcing the importance of human rights and protecting fundamental freedoms.

“Tackling terrorists’ use of the Internet requires a multi-stakeholder approach involving governments, international organizations, civil society, and the private sector. CTED is happy and proud to see our TechAgainstTerrorism initiative continue to develop and now be associated with GIFCT,” said David Scharia, Chief of Branch, CTED.

Home Secretary of the United Kingdom Amber Rudd, and Deputy Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security of the United States Elaine Duke will both attend the launch in San Francisco, which CTED will open. _____________________________ // ____________________________

CTED and ICT4Peace are partners with Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and YouTube in supporting the recently announced industry-led Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism. TechAgainstTerrorism is a joint initiative between CTED and ICT4Peace, pursuant to �山��Security Council resolution 2354 (2017) and the mandate of the �山��Counter-Terrorism Committee and its Executive Directorate (CTED).

The Republic of Korea, Spain, and Switzerland, as well as Facebook, Google, Kaspersky Labs, Microsoft, and Telefónica are sponsors of TechAgainstTerrorism.

For more information, please contact Mattias Sundholm with CTED here, or +1-917-628-3531.

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Security Council - Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) - GIFCT

CTED-initiated process results in High-Level meeting on preventing terrorist use of the Internet

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CTED and ICT4Peace host U.S. launch of Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism in San Francisco