A pilot project launched by Google’s startup incubator and a British IT company will target potential Islamic State recruits – and also the American far right – with new software that pairs violence-related search entries with anti-extremism ads.
Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) has made extensive use of online and social media platforms to spread its vision of radical Islam or lure recruits to wage jihad in Syria and Iraq.
Now the world’s largest search engine has announced an unconventional project that aims to help counter extremists’ propaganda messages and de-radicalize those in danger of falling under their influence.
Jigsaw, a technology incubator run by Google, has teamed up with London-based startup Moonshot CVE to design technology capable of redirecting a potential Islamist browsing for IS-related words and phrases to creative anti-extremist messages or videos.
The Redirect Method is a new way to confront online radicalization with targeted advertising https://t.co/ySc8XK6MU6 pic.twitter.com/rZwUiZsFOK
— Jigsaw (@JigsawTeam) September 7, 2016
Called ‘The Redirect Method,’ the program operated in trial mode for eight weeks from January to March, according to the Christian Science Monitor. It reached over 320,000 people searching for IS-associated keywords, from the terrorist group’s slogans to the names of buildings in Islamist-held areas.
The users’ metadata was collected during the eight-week trial and was used to send them…