Google to Combat Terrorist Messages with Counter Narrative AdWords
February 22, 2016
Governments are not alone in the fight against terrorism. Google Will Show ‘Counter-Narrative’ AdWords To Users Searching For Terrorist Websites from Tech Week Europe explains how Google is playing a role in containing terrorist messages. In effort to prove their commitment to anti-terrorist initiatives to UK members of parliament, Google will employ a counter narrative strategy using Google AdWords as a marketing channel for their anti-extremist messages. According to the article,
“Users searching for words and websites associated with religious extremism that is linked to terrorism will be shown the ‘counter-narrative’ via Google AdWords, the sponsored links that appear at the top of a search results page. Dr House also told MPs at the Common’s home affairs select committee that Google had removed 14 million videos from YouTube in 2014 for reasons that include terrorist content, according to the Telegraph. Google reportedly offers AdWords grants to NGOs, so that their ‘counter-narrative’ websites can appear on search results for queries such as ‘join Isis’, reported The Telegraph.”
In the article’s concluding remarks, the author raises several questions regarding censorship, freedom of speech and user control; the saying with great power comes great responsibility comes to mind. Developments related to Google’s counter narratives will be important to follow as the bigger-picture conversation unfolds.
Megan Feil, February 22, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
The Forgotten List of Telegraph
May 13, 2015
Technology experts and information junkies in the European Union are in an uproar over a ruling that forces Google to remove specific information from search results. “The right to be forgotten” policy upheld by the EU is supposed to help people who want “inadequate, irrelevant, or no longer relevant” information removed from Google search results. Many news outlets in Europe have been affected, including the United Kingdom’s Telegraph. The Telegraph has been recording a list called “Telegraph Stories Affected By ‘EU Right To Be Forgotten’” of all the stories they have been forced to remove.
According to the article, the Google has received over 250,000 requests to remove information. Some of these requests concern stories published by Telegraph. While many oppose the ‘right to be forgotten,’ including the House of Lords, others are still upholding the policy:
“But David Smith, deputy commissioner and director of data protection for the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), hit back and claimed that the criticism was misplaced, ‘as the initial stages of its implementation have already shown.’ ”
Many of the “to be forgotten” requests concern people with criminal pasts and misdeeds that are color them in an bad light. The Telegraph’s content might be removed from Google, but they are keeping a long, long list on their website. Read the stories there or head on over to the US Google website-freedom of the press still holds true here.
Whitney Grace, May 13, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
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