In an eye-opening blog post titled ‘Four steps we’re taking today to fight terrorism online’ by Google’s Counsel General Kent Walker, the tech conglomerate has made it official: they’re doing whatever it takes to tamp down on extremist content on YouTube, stating “There should be no place for terrorist content on (Google’s) services.”
Following the announcement of this intense campaign, the netscape predictably went into a frenzy. YouTube’s users make up a third of the world’s population and 95% of the Internet’s population, so one can imagine how one of the most democratic - yet increasingly capitalistic - platforms is rousing yet another debate on free speech versus international security.
Action plan
The aforementioned methodology comprises an expansion of Google’s technological affordability and manpower through their Trusted Flagger program in identifying destructive content. “Machines can help identify problematic videos, but human experts still play a role in nuanced decisions about the line between violent propaganda and religious or newsworthy speech.”
YouTube will also be way more strict with videos that do not outright violate their policies, and such content will feature an interstitial warning and won’t be monetised, recommended or eligible for comments or user endorsements. “That means these videos will have less engagement and be harder to find. We think this strikes the right balance between free expression and access to information without promoting extremely offensive viewpoints,” shares Kent.
Finally the world will see more intervention from Google’s anti-radicalist incubator Jigsaw to promote battles against terrorist sentiments, which is a development on top of their Creators for Change Program.
The world reacts
When the news hit Indian audiences, the Twittersphere almost imploded with an unending procession of ‘social justice warriors,’ citing the democratised platform should be an inclusive and non-discriminatory place where users have sovereignty over what they consume.
In the dominating realm of religion, extremist channels will begin to dissipate in their reach. According to numerous tweets, it is through video proof of violence engendered by certain groups, that people become aware — such as harm against religious sects, women and other minorities. In the case of India, expect a significant difference in the treatment of religiously extremist matter — especially with copious amounts of controversy surrounding beef consumption, caste and other forms of social stratification.
Other tweets suggest that shady counterpart LiveLeak and other systems will probably absorb a lot of such content. However, it should be noted that YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Microsoft banded together in December 2016 to form a counter-terrorist movement across their interfaces.
How much YouTube will be able to abide by this new structure is yet to be determined but with mixed reactions towards this reinforced trajectory, we can only wait and see how effective it really is.
