YouTube, Meta to expand policies, research to combat online extremism

Sept 15 (Reuters) – Major technology companies pledged on Thursday to take new steps to combat online extremism by removing more violent content and promoting media literacy among young users, as part of a White House summit on countering hate-driven violence.

Platforms such as Alphabet’s ( GOOGL.O ) YouTube and Meta Platform’s ( META.O ) Facebook have come under fire for years from critics who say the companies have allowed hate speech, lies and violent rhetoric to flourish on their services.

US President Joe Biden urged Americans to fight racism and extremism earlier Thursday during a White House summit that brought together experts and survivors and included bipartisan local leaders. Read more

YouTube said it will expand its policies on violent extremism to remove content that glorifies acts of violence, even if the creators of the videos are not related to a terrorist organization.

The video streaming site already bans incitement to violence, but has not applied existing policies, at least in some cases, to videos promoting militia groups involved in the January 6 storming of the US capital.

A report by the Tech Transparency Project in May found 435 pro-militia videos on YouTube, including 85 posted since the January 6 attack. Some of the videos provided training advice, such as how to carry out guerilla-style ambushes.

YouTube spokesman Jack Malon declined to say whether the service would change its approach to this content under the new policy, but said the update allows it to go further with enforcement than it had previously.

YouTube also said it will launch a media literacy campaign to teach younger users how to spot the manipulation tactics used to spread misinformation.

Microsoft ( MSFT.O ) said it will make a basic and more affordable version of its artificial intelligence and machine learning tools available to schools and smaller organizations to help them detect and prevent violence.

Facebook owner Meta announced it will partner with researchers from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies’ Center for Terrorism, Extremism and Counterterrorism.

Last year, lawmakers grilled the CEOs of Alphabet and Facebook, as well as Twitter Inc ( TWTR.N ), over whether their companies bore some responsibility for the Jan. 6 attack.

Reporting by Sheila Dang in Dallas and Katie Paul in Palo Alto; editing by Richard Pullin

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