A multi-company Big Tech project created to combat “terrorism” will now shift its focus away from cracking down on Islamic terror networks such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda and instead target “far-right” organizations.
The Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT), a collaboration that includes the likes of Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Microsoft, has created a shared database of “extremist” content that is shared by participating companies, allowing them to more easily monitor and suppress such content from platform to platform.
Thus far, the GIFCT database has largely been comprised of content from the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and other violent Islamic groups.
Now, domestic right-wing organizations will be the priority.
“Over the next few months, the group will add attacker manifestos — often shared by sympathizers after white supremacist violence — and other publications and links flagged by U.N. initiative Tech Against Terrorism,” Reuters reports. “It will use lists from intelligence-sharing group Five Eyes, adding URLs and PDFs from more groups, including the Proud Boys, the Three Percenters and neo-Nazis.”
GIFCT’s Executive Director, Nicholas Rasmussen, told the outlet that “Anyone looking at the terrorism or extremism landscape has to appreciate that there are other parts … that are demanding attention right now,” pointing to alleged threats of violence from the Right.
The 14 companies that can access GIFCT also include Snapchat, Reddit, Verizon, and LinkedIn. The organization was created in 2017 under pressure from the American and European governments following Islamic terror attacks in Paris and Brussels.
Recently, the group brought on Airbnb and Mailchimp as members.
The news comes shortly after it was announced that PayPal, one of the world’s biggest online money-transfer platforms, will partner with the leftist Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to tackle “extremist” and “hate” movements on its platform.
According to The Hill, the PayPal-ADL partnership will specifically research the financial patterns of such “extremist” groups. Officials from the two organizations say they will share their findings with law enforcement and policymakers.
“All of us, including in the private sector, have a critical role to play in fighting the spread of extremism and hate. With this new initiative, we’re setting a new standard for companies to bring their expertise to critical social issues,” said ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.
“We have a unique opportunity to further understand how hate spreads and develop key insights that will inform the efforts of the financial industry, law enforcement, and our communities in mitigating extremist threats,” he added.
PayPal has previously cut off its services to individuals and organizations on the political right, including the free-speech video platform BitChute, Republican congressional candidate and activist Laura Loomer, and the conservative street artist Sabo.
The news of Big Tech’s crackdown on right-wing “extremism” also comes as voices claiming voter fraud in 2020 and questioning the legitimacy of Joe Biden are branded by the establishment as “far-right” and even “terrorists” and “insurrectionists.”
This push has been justified by the January 6 Capitol protest, which the media has continually described as an “insurrection,” although none of the protesters who entered the Capitol that day were armed and many of those who have been arrested are not even being charged with violent crimes. Moreover, footage from that day shows Capitol Police letting many of the protesters into the Capitol Building.
The narrative has been helped along by some Republicans. Representative Liz Cheney(R-Wy.), who voted to impeach President Donald Trump, is one of two members of the GOP chosen by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to serve on the January 6 Committee. Cheney lectured her own party during the hearings on Tuesday.
“No member of Congress should now attempt to defend the indefensible, obstruct this investigation or whitewash what happened that day,” she said. “We must act with honor and duty and in the interest of our nation.”
Cheney continued, “Those participating in lawlessness and violence must be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The sudden thirst for law and order among the Left was notably absent while Black Lives Matter and Antifa attacked federal buildings (with federal employees inside) and police officers and even took over part of Seattle, creating an independent “autonomous zone.” Somehow, the media never got around to decrying any of that activity as “insurrection” or “sedition.”
