Tech pressured to root out extremism

Lawmakers are putting pressure on social media companies to take aggressive action against white supremacists in the wake of the New Zealand massacre.

Critics note that tech companies were successful in largely rooting out content promoting ISIS, but question why those same efforts have not targeted other extremists online.

On Capitol Hill, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, on Tuesday asked Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Microsoft to brief his panel on their efforts to remove violent terrorist content – including from “far-right, domestic terrorists” like the New Zealand shooter.

“Your companies tout your record in removing terrorism-related content,” Thompson wrote, noting efforts to combat ISIS and al-Qaeda-related postings. “However, the public has largely been kept in the dark regarding metrics associated with other violent extremists, including far-right violent extremists.”

The issue is gaining new attention after the shootings at two New Zealand mosques that killed 50.

The suspected shooter posted a white supremacist manifesto on Twitter and other social media outlets, laying out his bigoted views on Muslims and immigrants, according to New Zealand police. The shooter also uploaded a live video to Facebook of the attack, filming himself shooting dozens of worshippers at one of the mosques he targeted.

Lawmakers say the issue extends beyond the video itself and raises larger questions about how to deal with the extremist views the shooter and his supporters promoted online.

“Social media platforms – like Facebook and YouTube – can be grossly misused, allowing radicalized extremists in all forms take advantage of their openness, their scale, and their reach,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said。