ISIS bomb-making videos continue to be available on Google platforms

for the explosive described in the video.

Despite the demonstrable risks to public safety, the video continues to be available online. Since November 2016, the video has been uploaded to Google-owned platforms and removed at least eleven times. “You Must Fight Them O Muwahhid” was most recently accessible on Google Drive on 9 January 2018, on YouTube on 30 December, and on Google Photos on 27 December, where it remained for almost 24 hours after it was uploaded.

CEP notes that even though Google has made numerous public commitments to tackle extremist content—including promises to using a hashing system to prevent the spread of known extremist content and increasing staff to remove this material—the video continues to be available. The continued reappearance of known ISIS bomb-making material, however, raises questions about Google’s commitment to actually implementing these pledges.

Moreover, on 9 January, the European Commission met with approximately twenty tech and social media companies in Brussels, and—in a sign of displeasure with tech companies’ progress—demanded that the firms remove extremist content within two hours of upload. “If videos like ‘You Must Fight Them O Muwahhid’ are constantly reuploaded and can remain accessible and downloadable for a full day, it’s unclear how companies can meet this two-hour limit without making significant improvements to policies and capacity for implementation,” CEP says. “Furthermore, it’s unclear how fines will affect a multibillion dollar company that spent over $13 million on lobbying in the United States in 2017. The Commission’s decision would be the first-time rules for the timed removal of extremist content have been introduced in a major market, which could lead to greater global advancements in takedown mechanisms,” CEP says.

CEP concludes: “Google has come a long way since ignoring terrorist material on their sites, but more must be done to ensure the transparent and consistent enforcement of their terms of service. Google has still not publicly detailed how they plan on combating dangerous extremist content on Google Drive or Google Photos especially, but they owe the public a response.”