Q3/2020 - Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT)

Brief vom „Center for Democracy and Technology“, 30. Juli 2020

Das 2017 von vier US-amerikanischen Unternehmen (Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter und YouTube) gegründete „Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism“ (GIFCT) sollte das Engagement der Privatwirtschaft bei der Verhütung und Verfolgung von terroristischen Straftaten im Internet verstärken. 2019 traten Dropbox, Amazon, LinkedIn and WhatsApp dem GIFCT bei. Noch hat das Globale Internet Forum aber wenig bewirkt. Daher soll es jetzt umstrukturiert, auf breitere Füße gestellt und effektiver gestaltet werden. Ziel ist es, dass GIFTC unabhängiger zu machen, es stärker „Multistakeholder“ auszurichten und eine langfristig angelegte nachhaltigere Arbeit zu ermöglichen[1]. Am 23. Juli 2020 fand dazu ein virtuelles Multistakeholder Forum statt. Executive Director ist Nicholas Rasmussen. Er hat jahrelang zu Cybersicherheitsfragen im Weißen Haus, im US-Außenministerium und im Geheimdienst gearbeitet, u.a. als Senior Direktor für Counterterrorismus im Nationalen Sicherheitsrat (NSC) der USA. Vorsitzender des neuen internationalen Beirates wurde der Norweger Bjørn Ihler, Überlebender des Terroraktionen auf der norwegischen Insel Utøya im Jahr 2011 und Mitbegründer des Khalifa Ihler-Instituts, das sich mit Strategien zur Terrorismusbekämpfung auseinandersetzt.

Die Aktivitäten des GIFTC stoßen auf eine unterschiedliche Reaktion. Viele Regierungen begrüßen ein größeres Engagement der privaten Wirtschaft im Kampf gegen Terrorismus. Zivilgesellschaftliche Organisationen äußern aber auch Misstrauen gegenüber GIFTC und weisen auf die Komplexität, Vielschichtigkeit und unbeabsichtigte Nebenwirkungen der GIFTC Aktivitäten hin. In einem Brief vom 30. Juli 2020 hat das US-amerikanische „Center für Democracy and Technology“ (CDT), eine der führenden zivilgesellschaftlichen Organisationen im Internet Governance Ecosystem, einen Brief an den Direktor des GIFTC, Nicholas Rasmussen, geschrieben, der die Bedenken gegenüber die Plänen des GIFTC zum Ausdruck bringt. Mit Sorge sieht CDT vor allem die Absicht, dass private Unternehmen eine größere Rolle bei der sogenannten „Content Moderation“ und „Content Curation“ im Internet spielen wollen: „We would also like to discuss your vision for GIFCT and where you see it fitting into existing content moderation and counter-terrorism work. In a troubling trend, policy makers in government and at technology companies are increasingly treating content moderation as the tool of choice for counter-terrorism work without any assessment of its impact on human rights, much less adequate safeguards for protection of those rights. Content moderation also appears to be deployed at the expense of other programmes that could address the root causes of “violent extremism” and radicalisation more effectively in the long term. GIFCT is also engaging with law enforcement and experts in challenging violent extremism and counter-terrorism without transparency or any real assessment of the potential human rights harms this could cause. Counter-terrorism programs and surveillance have violated the rights of Muslims, Arabs, and other groups around the world, and have been used by governments to silence civil society. We want to ensure that the boundaries between content moderation and counter terrorism are clear[2].

Mehr zum Thema
Q3/2020
  1. [1] Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism: Evolving an Institution, Juli 2020. GIFCT mission statement: “Prevent terrorists and violent extremists from exploiting digital platforms.”; GIFCT goals: 1. Improve the capacity of a broad range of technology companies, independently and collectively, to prevent and respond to abuse of their digital platforms by terrorists and violent extremists; 2. Enable multi-stakeholder engagement around terrorist and violent extremist misuse of the internet and encourage stakeholders to meet key commitments consistent with the GIFCT mission; 3. Encourage those dedicated to online civil dialogue and empower efforts to direct positive alternatives to the messages of terrorists and violent extremists; 4. Advance broad understanding of terrorist and violent extremist operations and their evolution, including the intersection of online and offline activities. The GIFCT will be restructured as an independent membership organization led by an Executive Director and supported by dedicated staff. Funding for core GIFCT operations will be drawn from industry contributions. The Executive Director will be responsible for leadership and coordination of all GIFCT operations, including core management, program implementation, fund-raising and engagement with the Operating Board and the Independent Advisory Committee. Existing GIFCT workstreams, such as employing and leveraging technology, exemplified by the shared industry hash database of violent terrorist imagery and propaganda; knowledge-sharing efforts, and the Global Research Network on Terrorism and Technology (GRNTT) will be folded into three strategic pillars designed to house and foster additional work programs and maximize transparency. The strategic pillars are: 1. “Prevent” to equip digital platforms and civil society groups with awareness, knowledge and tools, including technology, to develop sustainable programs in their core business operations to disrupt terrorist and violent extremist activity online; 2. “Respond” will develop tools and capacity, including via regular multi-stakeholder exercises, for platforms to cooperate with one another and with other stakeholders to mitigate the impact of a terrorist or violent extremist attack; 3. “Learn” will empower researchers to study terrorism and counterterrorism, including creating and evaluating best practices for multi-stakeholder cooperation and preventing abuse of digital platforms.“ Core programs developed under the three pillars will be supplemented by bespoke, multi-stakeholder working groups that will both conduct distinct projects and advise on related GIFCT efforts. The multi-stakeholder approach of these working groups will build on the success and model of GIFCT’s existing partnership with the NGO Tech Against Terrorism (TaT). TaT developed robust knowledge-sharing programs that have been, and will remain, key elements of GIFCT’s work, all the while receiving funding from, among others, the United Nations and the Canadian government for related project.s“ In: https://www.gifct.org/about/
  2. [2] Human Rights NGOs in Coalition Letter to GIFCT, in https://cdt.org/insights/human-rights-ngos-in-coalition-letter-to-gifct/