In the heat of criticism for several months, Facebook announced Monday strengthen its fight against extremist content on the Internet by creating, alongside other technology giants like Google and Twitter, an independent structure.
The leaders of the new organization were scheduled to meet in New York Monday with several world leaders, including New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
"To thwart the increasingly sophisticated attempts of terrorists"
This initiative is the result of a consortium created in 2017 by Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and Google (via YouTube). The Seattle-based giant Amazon as well as the LinkedIn (Microsoft-owned) and WhatsApp (Facebook) platforms have joined the new organization. It will "thwart the increasingly sophisticated attempts of terrorists and violent extremists to use digital platforms," according to the statement.
Facebook said the structure would benefit from independent staff and that an executive director, whose name was not disclosed, would be appointed. Non-governmental actors will lead an advisory committee. The governments of the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Japan will also have a consultative role, as will experts from the United Nations and the European Union.
For several months, Facebook has multiplied initiatives to fight "hate and extremist" content on the Internet. Last Tuesday, the group led by Mark Zuckerberg announced that he had called on police on both sides of the Atlantic to educate his artificial intelligence tools to stop video broadcasts of live extremist attacks on his platform.