Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism

GIFCT logo

The Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) is an Internet industry initiative to share proprietary information and technology for automated content moderation.[1][2]

History

Founded in 2017 by a consortium of companies spearheaded by Facebook (now known as Meta), Google/YouTube, Microsoft and Twitter (now known as X), it was created as an organization in 2019 and its membership has expanded to include 18 companies as of the end of 2021.[3] The GIFCT began as a shared hash database of ISIS-related material but expanded to included a wider array of violent extremist content in the wake of the attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand that was live streamed on Facebook.[4]

Members include Microsoft, Meta Platforms (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp), YouTube, Twitter, Airbnb, Discord, Dropbox, LinkedIn, Amazon, Mailchimp, Pinterest, JustPaste.it, Tumblr, WordPress.com and Zoom.[5]

GIFCT maintains a database of perceptual hashes of terrorism-related videos and images that is submitted by its members, and which other members can voluntarily use to block the same material on their platforms.[5] The material indexed includes images, videos and will be expanded to include URLs and textual data such as manifestos and other documents.[6]

Global Network on Extremism and Technology

The Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET) is described as the "academic research arm of GICFT".[7][8] It is a collaboration of several academic research centers, led by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence at King's College London.[9]

Criticism

GIFCT has been flagged by civil society activists and scholars as a "content cartel" similar to YouTube's Content ID,[1] and a potential tool for "cross-platform censorship".[2] GIFCT was questioned in a joint letter by human rights groups on removals of evidence of war crimes.[10]

Accusations of misuse

In 2022, Facebook, Inc., a subsidiary of Meta Platforms, was subject to a subpoena about GIFCT usage as OnlyFans was alleged to have used GIFCT to harm competitors by getting their content and accounts censored on Instagram.[11] Facebook and OnlyFans have described these allegations as being "without merit".[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Evelyn Douek (2020-02-11). "The Rise of Content Cartels". Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Retrieved 2022-08-21.
  2. ^ a b Llanso, Emma (2020-08-21). "Content Moderation Knowledge Sharing Shouldn't Be A Backdoor To Cross-Platform Censorship". Techdirt. Retrieved 2022-08-21.
  3. ^ "GIFCT Annual Report 2021" (PDF). GIFCT.org. Global Internet Forum for Counter Terrorism. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  4. ^ Radsch, Courtney (20 September 2020). "GIFCT: Possibly the Most Important Acronym You've Never Heard Of". Just Security. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  5. ^ a b "GIFCT Membership". GIFCT. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  6. ^ Culliford, Elizabeth (2021-07-26). "Facebook and tech giants to target attacker manifestos, far-right militias in database". Reuters. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  7. ^ "Research". Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  8. ^ GNET Official website
  9. ^ "Partners". GNET-research.org. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  10. ^ "Joint Letter to New Executive Director, Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism | Human Rights Watch". Human Rights Watch. 2020-07-30. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  11. ^ "OnlyFans accused of conspiring to blacklist rivals". BBC News. 2022-02-22. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
  12. ^ "OnlyFans Allegedly Bribed Meta to Put Adult Stars on Terrorist Watchlist". PAPER. 2022-08-11. Retrieved 2022-10-13.


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