GOOGLE

The Internet Search Giant Google is to start automatically searching for extremist material online. After months and years of campaigning by human rights groups and other lobbyists, it finally seems to be taking seriously the threat of terrorists on the web.

Through a process of algorithm adaptation Google will enhance the effectiveness of its computers to look for potentially dangerous content. This will then be reviewed to decide if it should be taken down.

Technology firms, including Google and its video streaming site YouTube, have been accused of foot-dragging and failing to remove extremist material quickly enough.

Kent Walker, Google’s senior vice-president, has now announced a plan to tackle the problem. He admits the search engine had previously not done enough.

“There should be no place for terrorist content on our services. While we and others have worked for years to remove content that violates our policies, the uncomfortable truth is that we, as an industry, must acknowledge that more needs to be done,” he said.

As part of the new effort, Google will use new technology to help identify extremist videos.

It is also extending its funding of experts who decide whether material should be taken down from the web.

The firm has pledged a “tougher stance” on videos that do not directly violate its rules but contain, for example, inflammatory religious or supremacist content.

In future, these will appear with a warning and adverts will not run with them, meaning those who post them online will not make money from such content.

And YouTube will re-direct potential Islamic State recruits who search for extremist material to anti-terror videos aimed at stopping them from being radicalised.

Mr Walker said: “Collectively these changes will make a difference. And we’ll keep working on the problem until we get the balance right.

“Extremists and terrorists seek to attack and erode not just our security but also our values – the very things that make our societies free. We must not let them. Together, we can build lasting solutions that address threats to our security. We are committed to playing our part.”

Labour MP Yvette Cooper, who was chairman of the home affairs select committee in the last Parliament, welcomed Google’s announcement.

She said: “The committee recommended that they should be more proactive in searching for – and taking down – extremist content.

“News that Google will now proactively scan content is therefore welcome, though there is still more to do.

“Still today there is illegal content easily accessible on YouTube – including terrorist propaganda. Google cannot delay in implementing these new rules.

“As with any other business, social media companies have a responsibility to make sure their platforms are safe. These steps are the first in a series which need to be taken to ensure they are fulfilling their important obligations.”

Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has called on fellow EU ministers to apply joint pressure on technology firms to do more to tackle the problem of extremism online.

At a meeting concluded in Luxembourg, Mr Johnson is hoping that all 28 foreign ministers will agree to establish an industry-led forum on preventing radicalisation via the internet.

In the wake of the Manchester bomb attack last month, links to handbooks imploring extremists to murder, and providing instructions for constructing home-made bombs, are still readily available.