Security Council - Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) - information technology

The 51�Թ� Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) welcomes major private sector initiative to counter terrorism online

BMUSONI — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 18:11:00 +0000

Today 26 June 2017, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and YouTube announced the formation of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, an initiative to make their hosted consumer services hostile to terrorists and violent extremists.

“I welcome this major initiative, which elevates our existing private-public partnership with these and other companies,” said 51�Թ� Assistant Secretary-General Jean-Paul Laborde, Executive Director of the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED). CTED leads ‘Tech Against Terrorism’ (www.techagainstterrorism.org) together with the foundation ICT4Peace.

“Terrorism is a global threat that can only be defeated by sustained, joint efforts. The 51�Թ� remains committed to addressing the scourge of terrorism, and we look forward to remaining a key partner to the private sector. The Security Council remains seized of this and other issues that represent serious threats to international peace and security, and its adoption last month of resolution 2354 (2017) provides a comprehensive international framework to counter terrorist narratives,” Mr. Laborde added.

Underlining that the spread of terrorism and violent extremism is a pressing global problem and a critical challenge, these companies have already developed policies and removal practices that enable them to take a hard line against terrorist or violent extremist content on their hosted consumer services. By working together, and through the sharing of the best technological and operational elements of their individual efforts, they believe they can have a greater impact on the threat of terrorist content online.

The new forum builds on initiatives including the EU Internet Forum and the Shared Industry Hash Database; discussions with the UK and other governments; and the conclusions of the recent G7 and European Council meetings. It will formalise and structure existing and future areas of collaboration between these companies and foster cooperation with smaller tech companies, civil society groups, and academics, government, as well as supranational bodies such as the EU and the UN.

The scope of the work will evolve over time as needs shift in responding to the ever-evolving terrorist and extremist tactics. Initially, the work will focus on:

Technological solutions: these companies will work together to refine and improve existing joint technical work, such as the Shared Industry Hash Database; exchange best practices as they develop and implement new content detection and classification techniques using machine learning; and define standard transparency reporting methods for terrorist content removals.
Research: they will commission research to inform their counter-speech efforts and guide future technical and policy decisions around the removal of terrorist content.
Knowledge-sharing: these companies will work with counter-terrorism experts including governments, civil society groups, academics, as well as other companies to engage in shared learning about terrorism. And through a joint partnership specifically with UN CTED and the ICT4Peace Initiative (techagainstterrorism.org), implementing Security Council resolution 2354 (2017), they are establishing a broad knowledge-sharing network to:
1. Engage with smaller companies: they will help smaller companies develop the technology and processes necessary to tackle terrorist and extremist content online.
2. Develop best practices: these companies already partner with organizations such as the Center for Strategic and International Studies , Anti-Defamation League and the Global Network Initiative to identify how best to counter extremism and online hate, while respecting freedom of expression and privacy. They can socialise these best practices, and develop additional shared learnings on topics such as community guideline development, and policy enforcement.
3. Counterspeech: all of these companies have robust counterspeech initiatives in place (e.g., YouTube’s Creators for Change, Jigsaw’sRedirect Method, Facebook’s P2P and OCCI, Microsoft’s partnership with the Institute for Strategic Dialogue for counter-narratives on Bing, and Twitter’s global NGO training programme). The forum they have now established allows them to learn from and contribute to one another’s counterspeech efforts, and discuss how to further empower and train civil society organisations and individuals who may be engaged in similar work and support ongoing efforts, such as the Civil society empowerment project (CSEP).

These companies will be hosting a series of learning workshops in partnership with UN CTED/ICT4Peace in Silicon Valley and around the world to drive these areas of collaboration.

Further information on all of the above initiatives will be shared in due course.

Front Page Article:

51�Թ� Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee holds special meeting on preventing exploitation of the Internet and social media for terrorist purposes

BMUSONI — Wed, 07 Dec 2016 17:13:00 +0000

706377-sc-pm-01_12_2016-16.56.16.jpg

Exploitation of the Internet and social media for terrorist purposes can only be defeated through sustained and comprehensive action involving the active participation and collaboration of Member States, international and regional organizations, civil society, and the private sector. This was a common theme expressed by of a number of participants in a special meeting of the Counter-Terrorism Committee, held at the 51�Թ� in New York on 1 December 2016.

“We must work together to promote dialogue among all stakeholders in order to find effective ways to prevent the exploitation of information and communication technologies for terrorist purposes,” H.E. Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Egypt to the 51�Թ�, said in his closing statement. Ambassador Aboulatta is Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee of the Security Council.

The meeting – Preventing the exploitation of information and communication technologies (ICT) for terrorist purposes, while respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms – was held against the backdrop of the significant and growing threat posed to Member States by the exploitation of ICT, in particular the Internet and social media, for terrorist purposes. In a number of resolutions, the Security Council has recognized this threat and called upon Member States to take the measures needed to deliver an effective response. The formal meeting was preceded by technical sessions on the same theme organized by the Executive Directorate of the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTED) on 30 November and 1 December 2016.

Representatives of the private sector underscored their commitment to preventing the exploitation of ICT for terrorist purposes. Maryam Mujica, Public Policy Team Manager for Twitter, highlighted that the company “has suspended over 360,000 accounts for threatening or promoting terrorist acts” since mid-2015.

Participants in the special meeting and the accompanying technical sessions included Member States, international and regional organizations, 51�Թ� entities, the private sector, academia, faith-based leaders, and civil society representatives. Having relevant actors from various sectors gathered in the same room provided an opportunity for dialogue and for a frank discussion about challenges and ways forward.

Documents

Concept note

Agenda, technical meeting

Agenda, CTC special meeting

ICT4Peace report – Private sector engagement in responding to the use of the Internet and ICT for terrorist purposes

Presentations

2016-11-30-Session I 30 Nov – Arije Antinori, European Counter-Terrorism Centre (ECTC)

2016-11-30-Session I 30 Nov – V.S. Subrahmanian, University of Maryland

2016-11-30 – Vidia Arianti, ICPVTR

2016-11-30-Session V 30 Nov – Maxim Grigoryev, The Foundation for the Study of Democracy

2016-12-01-Session I 1 Dec – Rafal Rohozinski, CEO and Chief Innovation Officer at SecDev Group, ICT4Peace

2016-12-01-Session V 1 Dec – Dr. Mahmoud Nagah Ahmed Farag Khalaf, Al-Azhar Observer

Speech By Jan Kleijssen Director Information Society and Action against Crime Directorate Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law – DGI Council of Europe

Contribution de Mme Patricia Herdt, Représentante permanente a.i.
de l’Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) auprès des Nations Unies

“International Cooperation and Public-Private Partnership while Respecting International Human Rights” A Speech Delivered by: Dr. Reham Abdullah Salamah

Media coverage

Related media coverage

Special meeting of the Counter-Terrorism Committee: Preventing the exploitation of information and communication technologies (ICT) for terrorist purposes, while respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms (1 December 2016: Session III)

CTED-organized meeting: Preventing the exploitation of information and communication technologies (ICT) for terrorist purposes, while respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms (1 December 2016: Session V)

Front Page Article:

Special meeting of the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee on Preventing the exploitation of information and communication technologies (ICT) for terrorist purposes, while respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms

BMUSONI — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 17:13:00 +0000

16-00152a_web-image.png

Member States continue to face a significant and growing threat from the abuse of information and communication technologies (ICT), in particular the Internet and social media, for terrorist purposes. In a number of resolutions, the Security Council recognizes this risk, and calls upon Member States to adopt necessary measures to prevent and address the threat this represents.

In its Presidential Statement in May 2016 (S/PRST/2016/6), the Security Council requested its Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) to present a proposal for a comprehensive international framework with recommended guidelines and good practices to effectively counter the ways in which terrorist groups use their narratives to encourage, motivate, and recruit others to commit terrorist acts. As part of this work, and following on other initiatives, the Counter-Terrorism Committee will organize a special meeting on “Preventing the exploitation of information and communication technologies (ICT) for terrorist purposes, while respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms.” Taking place at 51�Թ� headquarters on Thursday 1 December 2016 in Conference room 4, the special meeting is open to Member and Observer States, members of the media including photographers with valid accreditation, 51�Թ� staff and interns, UN entities, intergovernmental organizations, and specialized agencies, as well as invited guests with a valid UN grounds pass. The event will be webcast at webtv.un.org.

The special meeting will be preceded by a series of preparatory technical sessions, organized by the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) on Wednesday 30 November and in the morning of Thursday 1 December.

Additional details can be found below. More information about the special meeting on a similar theme held in December 2015 can be found here.

Please RSVP here.