Google unveiled plans to remove extremist content on YouTube

After Facebook’s anti-terror plan, Google, the search giant, announced this Sunday that it is now planning to execute more measures to identify and remove terrorist or violent extremist content on its video-sharing platform YouTube. The search giant has revealed all their plans to remove terror related content on YouTube.

The search giant has introduced four main steps in the fight against online terrorism, including the faster detection and faster review of extremist content, more experts, tougher standards and an expansion of counter-radicalization work.

Kent Walker, the Senior Vice-President and General Counsel at Google, said that “Terrorism is an attack on open societies, and addressing the threat caused by violence and hate is a serious challenge to all of us.”

He added that “Google and YouTube are dedicated to being part of the solution. They are working with government, law enforcement as well as civil society groups to deal with the problems of online violent extremism. There should be no space for terrorist content on our services.”

The search giant said that its engineers have developed technology to prevent re-uploads of known terrorist content, using image-matching techniques.

Google will expand the number of independent experts in YouTube’s Trusted Flagger Programme, by recruiting and funding 50 more non-government organizations with skills in matters like terrorism, hate speech, and self-harm. Thus, the video sharing platform Youtube can benefit from more people capable of making “refined decisions about the line between aggressive propaganda and religious or newsworthy speech.” The search giant will also increase its work with counter-extremism groups to help recognizing content that may be being used to radicalize.

Google also revealed that more extremism videos which are supporting terrorism would be taken down and prohibited from being uploaded after the Home Affairs Select Committee called on them to take more responsibility for searching for illegal content.
The company added that Google-owned Youtube would expand its role in counter-radicalisation efforts by redirecting the potential terrorist recruits towards anti-terrorist videos.

Google Executive Kent Walker said, “Collectively, these changes will make a difference. And we’ll keep working on the problem until we get the balance right.”