Facebook Enlists AI, Human Experts in New Push Against Terrorism
- Company faces mounting pressure from governments to do more
- Efforts include computer analysis of images, text, networks
Web servers stand inside the Facebook Inc. Prineville Data Center in Prineville, Oregon.
Photographer: Meg Roussos/BloombergFacebook Inc. has hired more than 150 counterterrorism experts and is increasingly using artificial intelligence that can understand language and analyze images to try to keep terrorists from using the social network for recruiting and propaganda.
Monika Bickert, director of global policy management, and Brian Fishman, counterterrorism policy manager, outlined aspects of Facebook’s latest efforts in a post to a new blog the company debuted Thursday. The blog, called "Hard Questions," will address philosophical debates about the role of social media in society, from what should happen to a person’s digital history after they die to whether social media is good for democracy. The first post addresses how the company responds to the spread of terrorism online.