Facebook Is Weeding Out Profiles Tied to TerrorismThe social network has reportedly assembled a team to examine any material that backs terrorist groups.
This story originally appeared onFortune Magazine
Facebook is stepping up efforts to police any content that supports terrorism, which includes removing profiles linked to extremists from its roughly 1.6 billion users.
The social network has reportedly assembled a team dedicated to looking at any material that backs terrorist groups, and has sped up removal of users that are involved in or seemingly support such activities, according tothe Wall Street Journal.
This comes after the siteremoved the profileof one of the two attackers involved in theSan Benardinoshooting last December, who was later discovered to have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State on Facebook. In early January, government officialsmet with a teamfrom the company— including chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg—over how social media networks like Facebook could help curb extremist views online.
Offending users will be removed.
Facebook is stepping up efforts to police any content that supports terrorism, which includes removing profiles linked to extremists from its roughly-1.6 billion users.
The social network has reportedly assembled a team dedicated to looking at any material that backs terrorist groups, and has sped up removal of users that are involved in or seemingly support such activities, according tothe Wall Street Journal.
This comes after the siteremoved the profileof one of the two attackers involved in theSan Benardinoshooting last December, who was later discovered to have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State on Facebook. In early January, government officialsmet with a teamfrom the company— including chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg—over how social media networks like Facebook could help curb extremist views online.
Company executives reportedly started tightening their process about a year ago after meetings with academics led them to find that terrorists typically operate in groups.
Last week, Twittersaid it hadsuspended over 125,000 accounts since mid-2015 for "threatening or promoting terrorist acts, primarily related to ISIS."
