Social media corporations as actors of counter-terrorism

Abstract

This article discusses the role of giant social media corporations Facebook, Google (YouTube), and Twitter in counter-terrorism and countering violent extremisms (CT/CVEs). Based on a qualitative investigation mobilizing corporate communications as well as a collection of interviews with European stakeholders, it argues that these firms have become actors in this policy area of what is traditionally considered high politics, through their fundamental role in establishing and enforcing the nascent global governance regime on terrorist communications. Since the emergence of the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the studied firms have displayed agency and creativity in their appropriation of this new responsibility, effectively going beyond what was legally required of them. After contextualizing and questioning their involvement, motivated by terrorist exploitation of their services, reputational pressure and the threat of legislation, the article provides an analysis of the firms’ self-regulated commitment to CT/CVE through policymaking, content moderation, human resources, and private multilateralism.

To regulate or not to regulate: unravelling institutional tussles around the regulation of algorithmic control of digital platforms

“…They then depend on algorithms to analyze data about users and to increase and commercialize user engagement through personalized content and advertising (Riemer and Peter 2021). Recently, digital platforms’ use of algorithmic control gained attention in two key areas: (i) news curation (Khan et al, 2021; Riemer and Peter, 2021); and (ii) content moderation (Borelli, 2021; Rauf, 2021).…”

“…Such algorithmic control has been criticized recently for distorting news dissemination. This occurs by selecting audiences for particular news stories in automatic and opaque ways, or by suppressing content in unpredictable and undisclosed ways (Borelli, 2021; Riemer and Peter, 2021). Moreover, algorithms are able to create feedback loops that reinforce interests and biases and manipulate users, as with Cambridge Analytica (Cecez-Kecmanovic, 2019; Clarke, 2019).…”

Modulating moderation: A history of objectionability in Twitter moderation practices

“…Twitter's terrorism and violent extremism policy is based on the platform's focus on seeking legitimacy as a self-regulatory actor in policy arenas. Social media platforms have increasingly responded to terrorism and violent extremism through what Borelli (2021) refers to as "private multilateralism" in collaborative, industry-wide self-regulatory institutions such as the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT). Twitter, along with Facebook, Microsoft, and YouTube, in the face of the "chaos" of ISIS content on social media platforms (2021, p. 15), founded the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism on 26 July 2017.…”

Looking into the History of Recent Police Reforms in the USA: Critical Insights, Learning and Implications

“…Communities lacked trust in police equipment. In the meantime, the emergence of social media threatened the sustainability of the homeland security system since virtual social space provided lone terrorists with an opportunity to organize covertly (Borelli, 2021). Foley (2016) argued that segmented national and local intelligence institutions in the US made joint intelligence operations highly problematic.…”