Zoom thinks it can help the fight against global terrorism
Joins the likes of Meta, Amazon and Microsoft
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Far from just allowing users to stay in touch with family and friends around the globe,Zoomnow also wants to tackle online terrorism.
Thevideo conferencinggiant has announced it is joining the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) alongside the likes ofMicrosoft,Amazonand Meta.
“It is our responsibility to support our users and protect them against online threats,” Josh Parecki, Zoom’s associate general counsel for trust and safety, toldReuters. “By collaborating with other leaders across the industry, sharing key learnings and advancing research, we aspire to make the digital world a safer place for all.”
Zoom GIFCT
Formed by Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, andYouTubein 2017 following a spate of deadly terrorist attacks across Europe,GIFCTsays its mission is “to prevent terrorists and violent extremists from exploiting digital platforms.”
Now numbering 18 companies following Zoom’s addition, the NGO was initially focused on sharing technical collaboration to combat online extremism, but has since expanded to managing a hash-sharing database.
This allows members to share unique “hashes” - records of original content that have had to be removed from their platforms or services following extremism concerns.
These hashes are then used by other GIFCT members to identify if similar content has been uploaded to their platforms.
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In a statement, GIFCT Executive Director Nicholas Rasmussen said it was delighted to have Zoom as a partner. He noted that the group’s mission “requires we work with a diverse range of companies …to develop cross-platform solutions that render terrorists and violent extremists ineffective across the Internet”.
After an initial surge in popularity and an explosion in user numbers at the start of the pandemic, Zoom came under heavy criticism for failing to secure its platform.
Following several high-profile “Zoombombing” incidents where outside parties were able to gain access to Zoom calls without permission, the company carried out a major upheaval of its security protections.
Mike Moore is Deputy Editor at TechRadar Pro. He has worked as a B2B and B2C tech journalist for nearly a decade, including at one of the UK’s leading national newspapers and fellow Future title ITProPortal, and when he’s not keeping track of all the latest enterprise and workplace trends, can most likely be found watching, following or taking part in some kind of sport.
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