Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked and Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan met today with senior executives from global social network Facebook, and agreed to cooperate in the removal of incitement from the network. Taking part in the meeting were Facebook VP public policy Joel Kaplan, global public management head Monika Bickert, Facebook Israel policy and communications head Jordana Cutler, State Attorney's Office law and technology national supervisor Haim Wismonski, and Israel Police National Cyber Crime Unite head Chief Superintendent Meir Hayun.
According to Shaked and Erdan, the parties in the meeting agreed on closer cooperation between the Israel teams, led by the Ministries of Justice and Public Security and the National Security Council, and Facebook. The parties recognize that Facebook has the ability, responsibility, and will to help end incitement to terrorism from the social network. The recent wave of terrorism against Israel featured many terrorists who admitted in interrogation that they were affected by incitement on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other platforms.
Shaked said, "Israel is in the forefront of the struggle against terrorism, and also in the war against online incitement. In the week of the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the event that changed the face of the US, it is clear that all the parties share a common interest in fighting terrorism. The Facebook global headquarters is in the US, and its leaders have grown up with US morality. My impression is that the need for cooperation is understood. I believe that Facebook and the other social networks are capable of doing more in the war against incitement."
Erdan said, "Facebook and the Internet companies are responsible for the content published by them that encourages terrorism and incitement, and they should take action to track and remove it. It was proven in the recent wave of terrorism that Facebook became an incubator for terrorism, and we have to fight together to prevent this, but the companies must, and can, do much more."
Facebook said, "The Facebook delegation’s visit to Israel is part of the company’s “ongoing dialogue with policymakers and experts around the world to keep terrorist content off our platform and support counter-speech initiatives. Online extremism can only be tackled with a strong partnership between policymakers, civil society, academia and companies, and this is true in Israel and around the world. We had constructive discussions about these important issues and look forward to a continued dialogue and cooperation."
Facebook added, "Facebook has zero tolerance for terrorism. We want people to feel safe when using Facebook, and for that reason, we’ve developed a set of Community Standards which make it clear there is no place for terrorists or content that promotes terrorism on Facebook. We value spending time with local experts on the ground around the world to help us understand local context to inform these standards."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 13, 2016
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