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Google is suppressing Isis videos on government instruction

Islamic militants' use of Facebook and Twitter has increased the Internet giant's use of surveillance

Oscar Williams-Grut
Wednesday 25 March 2015 17:11 GMT
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Isis use of social media has been credited with helping it recruit so many new members from overseas
Isis use of social media has been credited with helping it recruit so many new members from overseas

Google has ramped up surveillance of services like YouTube and Gmail in response to Isis' recent huge online push to raise its profile and convert new members.

Google's UK head Eileen Naughton said: “What's happened lately with terrorists using Twitter, Facebook and YouTube as a distribution tool for their menacing and horrifying videos and communications, that's actually triggered a new level of security inside Google.

“We are much more rapid response. We have Government agencies that tip us off and we do whatever we can to suppress videos.”

Isis use of social media has been credited with helping it recruit so many new members from overseas and authority's have struggled to suppress the terrorist group's online voice. As many as 90,000 Twitter accounts reportedly have links to Isis.

Naughton said that despite the recent increased scrutiny, Google generally favours safeguarding user privacy, pushing back when Governments ask for information. Speaking at Advertising Week Europe, she said: “Our founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, are both very sensitive around oppressive tendencies of governments.

Google publishes regular transparency reports that reveal how many requests for information it has received and how many have been answered.

“But we do sometimes choose to and have to comply with requests when Government's are acting on behalf of their citizens to keep them safe.”

Like many technology companies that deal with users personal information, Google publishes regular transparency reports that reveal how many requests for information it has received and how many have been answered.

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