As the fight against terrorism is shifting from the battlefield to the internet, social media companies must be urged to do more to remove online terrorist contents by working with government and counter-terrorism experts. Their collaboration must focus on technological solutions that could help prevent the spread of extremism and terrorist planning.
The internet plays an important role in terms of disseminating information. Foreign terrorist organizations have been exploiting social media for online radicalization. Yes, internet freedom should be respected but people who want to do harm must be stopped from using cyberspace to spread their message and further their cause.
Here in our country, the Armed Forces of the Philippines takes the lead in monitoring hundreds of social media accounts spreading online propaganda in support of some local terror groups. But the job must not be theirs alone. The government must seek the tech industry’s support to not only track potential terrorists but also to stop terrorist propaganda from proliferating on social media.
KARA MARTINA PACUMIO, pkaramartina@gmail.com