Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism

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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[edit]

Founded in 2017 by a consortium of companies spearheaded by Facebook (now known as Meta), Google/YouTube, Microsoft and Twitter, 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[edit]

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[edit]

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]

Accusations of misuse[edit]

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.[10] Facebook and OnlyFans have described these allegations as being "without merit".[11]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Evelyn Douek (2020-02-11). "The Rise of Content Cartels". knightcolumbia.org. Retrieved 2022-08-21.
  2. ^ a b Fri, Aug 21st 2020 12:00pm-Emma Llanso (2020-08-21). "Content Moderation Knowledge Sharing Shouldn't Be A Backdoor To Cross-Platform Censorship". Techdirt. Retrieved 2022-08-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  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. ^ "OnlyFans accused of conspiring to blacklist rivals". BBC News. 2022-02-22. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
  11. ^ "OnlyFans Allegedly Bribed Meta to Put Adult Stars on Terrorist Watchlist". PAPER. 2022-08-11. Retrieved 2022-10-13.

External links[edit]


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