For the third time since December 2015, the Obama administration has met with social media companies to discuss fighting the spread of online extremism.
On February 23, the U.S. Department of Justice met with officials from Facebook, Twitter, and Google to discuss how online social media firms can take the lead in disrupting online radicalization.
Seamus Hughes, the deputy director of George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, attended the meeting and told Reuters it was “a recognition that the government is ill-positioned and ill-equipped to counter ISIS online.”
George Selim, director of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) office for “countering violent extremism” activities, said the federal government is not equipped to push back against “online recruitment efforts” from terror groups. Selim said the objective is to help “communities and young people to amplify their own messages.”
Reuters reports that the U.S. government is also investing in “counter-narrative” programs “at schools and community groups.” Another program, funded by Facebook and the U.S. government, involved “peer-to-peer (P2P) college courses that teach students to create their own anti-militant messaging.”
A senior FBI official told Reuters that the bureau works with many other non-governmental organizations on spreading “counter-narrative” programs.
This latest meeting between social media firms and the U.S. government represents a continuation of policies the Obama Administration sought to enact at the end of 2015. In December 2015, President Obama gave a speech urging “high-tech and law enforcement leaders to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice.” The speech came after the terror attack in San Bernardino, California.
Despite the Obama administration’s push for closer relationships, it seems that many tech companies may be resistant to working with the government. Reuters reported in December that former employees of Facebook, Google and Twitter, stated that the companies “all worry that if they are public about their true level of cooperation with Western law enforcement agencies, they will face endless demands for similar action from countries around the world.”
In January 2016, The Guardian reported that senior intelligence officials were flying to California to meet with executives from Facebook, Twitter, Apple, Microsoft, YouTube and others.
The Guardian obtained a copy of the agenda which showed the White House’s desire to channel the tech firms’ talent into a fight against radicalization.
It states:
In what ways can we use technology to help disrupt paths to radicalization to violence, identify recruitment patterns, and provide metrics to help measure our efforts to counter radicalization to violence?
The meeting involved Obama’s Chief of Staff, Denis McDonough; National Security Agency Chair, Admiral Mike Rogers; the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper; and FBI director, James Comey.
What does the increasingly cozy relationship between government and technology companies mean for the privacy of Americans? Should the people continue to use these services if they agree to operate more closely with the already intrusive U.S. government?
We should remain skeptical of the government’s claims regarding their need to access private information shared through social networks.
This article first appeared at Ben Swann’s TruthInMedia.com
Derrick Broze is an investigative journalist and liberty activist. He is the founder of the TheConsciousResistance.com. Follow him on Twitter.
Derrick is available for interviews.
The only thing they want to counter is alternative media spreading the truth about our govt’s creation, funding, arming and support of the very terrorists they purport to be fighting. They let countless ISIS sites and Twitter feeds spread their jihadi nonsense indefinitely, but seem able to shut down truth tellers like it’s going out of style. Videos get pulled. View counts on YouTube are manipulated. They de-monetized videos that deal with controversial political subjects, effectively killing a number of independent analysts’ability to continue their work. Except Alex Jones, which oughta tell you something. Part and parcel of the war on truth; whistleblowers especially, so now journalists are afraid to touch any explosive revelations out of fear. And justifiably so, they have every right to not want to be targeted by the govt because they’ve seen what Japan’s-
China is run by the same NWO globalist bad guys still telling lies …that of ‘old money’ generational bloodlines …Mao went to Yale…the ‘shadow masters’ still rule from behind the scenes at the pyramid cap…why do you think Nixon went to China in the 1970’s?….next came the exodus of American jobs etc….sovereignty is a myth.
Are we really concerned with ISIS (or ISIL as B.O. calls it) or are we secretly attempting to thwart those “vicious,gruesome, merciless” Southern Baptists and their co-conspirators the Mormons. I feel safer already thanks to the vigilance of our fine federal government.
Fear not, anyone telling the truth, anyone seeking justice, anyone advocating democracy, humanity or any other anti-profitability rubbish will be crushed by your vigilant police state. We will all soon be safe from the clutches of freedom.
I like that term – anti-profitability rubbish.
This government is MAKING terrorists, not alleviating the problem
In 2001 there were a FEW thousand terrorists, mostly just barefoot illiterates with small bases in Afghanistan and Somalia with NO presence in Iraq. Now, thanks to the superior war fighting skills and knowledge of the Military Geniuses in the Pentagon there are tens of thousands with strongholds in Libya, Nigeria, Yemen, Somalia, Syria/Iraq, Afghanistan,Pakistan, etc.
Thanks to Abu Graihb,Guantanamo, Secret Dungeons out of the Feudal Dark Ages ………
Thanks to the IDIOTIC actions of this government.
and all deliberately done. the terrorists are not the enemy of the government – YOU are!
In light of your comment, I must agree, POTUS et al, KNOW where their moderate Terrorists are and who they are…it’s US Americans they are concerned with, as the article makes clear.
Hiring propagandist- satanic stasi-shills & trolls more like…to intimidate the proles as BIG BROTHER Kontrol Freaks (because these hired trolls have NO individual power, ergo ‘low self esteem)…. already foretold in 1984 by Geo.Orwell/ Eric Blair….echoing pre war Germany
“Those that cannot remember the past…are condemned to repeat it”
intimidate? heheh-the only intimidation I’ve seen is when a troll is identified and piled upon by real people.
well here’s a thought, the US govt could STOP making war and bombing other countries you fricking psychopaths!!! That would stop 99.999% of radicalization.. sadly this makes sense and doesn’t support BUSINESS!
Nobody radicalized more people than Bush and Blair, and now by those who follow.
MSM is the darling of the scum that controls the world. Many folks think they are actually presenting news and truth – what a joke.
Megan on fox news proved that the media is controlled – that little b word.
What they spew is just purely entertainment. I have more respect for snakes.
BTW: a lot of really great responses – wish I measured up.
ISIS this. ISIS that ! ISIS used to close the corral gate on the unruly herd of boobus americanus population that is waking up . Himmler never had it so easy ? I just can’t believe the roll over rover American mindset .
ISIS is causing your soda to go flat too !
hope you law breaking bastards hang from the lamp post .