White House Announces Extremism Plan With YouTube, Microsoft, Meta

YouTube, Twitch, Microsoft and Meta joined the White House Thursday in announcing collaborative efforts to design products in an effort to curb online extremism and hate. President Joe Biden hosted the United We Stand Summit to “counter the corrosive effects of hate-fueled violence,” citing impacts of attacks and mass shootings in places like Orlando, Charleston, Pittsburgh, El Paso, Atlanta, Buffalo and Wisconsin's Oak Creek. Government agencies will use feedback and consultation to “carefully evaluate government support following past incidents and offer recommendations for improvements in the delivery of government assistance,” the White House said. YouTube is expanding policies for “removing content glorifying violent acts for the purpose of inspiring others to commit harm.” Twitch will deploy new tools for combating violent livestream content. Microsoft will deploy artificial intelligence and machine learning “tools with appropriate privacy protections that can help detect credible threats of violence or to public safety, and is making a basic, more affordable version of these tools accessible to schools and smaller organizations to assist in violence prevention.” Meta established a partnership with the Middlebury Institute of International Studies’ Center on Terrorism, Extremism and Counterterrorism to study “trends in violent extremism and tools that help communities combat it.”