What Role Should Technology Companies Play To Fight ISIS?
Technology and security companies are being asked to help the government fight ISIS and extremists online, raising questions about what role the private sector should play in national security.
This week, both Hillary Clinton and former Hewlett-Packard HPQ, -3.28% Chief Executive Carly Fiorina, a Republican presidential contender, pinned responsibility on the private sector to help the government hunt down terrorists. Meanwhile, the House passed a bill Tuesday requiring the president to submit a report on terrorist use of social media, which would need to address the relationship between social media companies and the federal government.
Two senators, Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.), introduced legislation Dec. 8 that would require tech companies to report terrorist activity to law enforcement.
These calls would put the private sector in the position of censoring their own users, and virtually becoming agents of the government, experts say.
“Countries have a security problem, and the tech companies can’t say anymore, ‘Oh, it’s not our problem. This is a neutral platform,’” says James Lewis, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a nonprofit, bipartisan think tank based in Washington, D.C.
Calls for private companies to offer more data on potential terrorists and criminals have increased in recent months. After the November Paris terror attacks, law enforcement and intelligence officials revived a fight for “back door” access to electronic communications, though companies and security experts say creating gaps for authorities to monitor for illegal activity would also open a door that criminals could exploit.
In a speech in Minneapolis Tuesday, Clinton called for the government, intelligence agencies and technology companies to “work together to develop a unified national strategy to defeat ISIS in cyberspace.”
“Our security professionals need to more effectively track and analyze ISIS’s social media posts and map jihadist networks, and they need help from the tech community,” Clinton said. “Companies should redouble their efforts to maintain and enforce their own service agreements and other necessary policies to police their networks, identifying extremist content and removing it.”
A Facebook FB, -2.05% spokesperson told MarketWatch that it has “zero tolerance for terrorists, terror propaganda, or the praising of terror activity and we work aggressively to remove it as soon as we become aware of it.” Facebook alerts law enforcement when it becomes aware of “a threat of imminent harm or a planned terror attack” and strives to keep terrorist content off the network.
Federal agencies already use private security companies as vendors, Lewis says. But here’s where it gets complicated: Tech companies want to protect their users’ privacy, and have not been willing to compromise on that front while helping the government — particularly when it comes to allowing the government to unlock phones without a warrant. This applies to governments outside the U.S. as well: BlackBerry BBRY, +10.38% will pull out of Pakistan by the end of the year, after the country’s government demanded blanket access to monitor its customers’ communications.
This week, both Hillary Clinton and former Hewlett-Packard HPQ, -3.28% Chief Executive Carly Fiorina, a Republican presidential contender, pinned responsibility on the private sector to help the government hunt down terrorists. Meanwhile, the House passed a bill Tuesday requiring the president to submit a report on terrorist use of social media, which would need to address the relationship between social media companies and the federal government.
Two senators, Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.), introduced legislation Dec. 8 that would require tech companies to report terrorist activity to law enforcement.
These calls would put the private sector in the position of censoring their own users, and virtually becoming agents of the government, experts say.
“Countries have a security problem, and the tech companies can’t say anymore, ‘Oh, it’s not our problem. This is a neutral platform,’” says James Lewis, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a nonprofit, bipartisan think tank based in Washington, D.C.
Calls for private companies to offer more data on potential terrorists and criminals have increased in recent months. After the November Paris terror attacks, law enforcement and intelligence officials revived a fight for “back door” access to electronic communications, though companies and security experts say creating gaps for authorities to monitor for illegal activity would also open a door that criminals could exploit.
In a speech in Minneapolis Tuesday, Clinton called for the government, intelligence agencies and technology companies to “work together to develop a unified national strategy to defeat ISIS in cyberspace.”
“Our security professionals need to more effectively track and analyze ISIS’s social media posts and map jihadist networks, and they need help from the tech community,” Clinton said. “Companies should redouble their efforts to maintain and enforce their own service agreements and other necessary policies to police their networks, identifying extremist content and removing it.”
A Facebook FB, -2.05% spokesperson told MarketWatch that it has “zero tolerance for terrorists, terror propaganda, or the praising of terror activity and we work aggressively to remove it as soon as we become aware of it.” Facebook alerts law enforcement when it becomes aware of “a threat of imminent harm or a planned terror attack” and strives to keep terrorist content off the network.
Federal agencies already use private security companies as vendors, Lewis says. But here’s where it gets complicated: Tech companies want to protect their users’ privacy, and have not been willing to compromise on that front while helping the government — particularly when it comes to allowing the government to unlock phones without a warrant. This applies to governments outside the U.S. as well: BlackBerry BBRY, +10.38% will pull out of Pakistan by the end of the year, after the country’s government demanded blanket access to monitor its customers’ communications.
Lance James, chief scientist at Flashpoint, a New York cybersecurity company that provides deep web intelligence and researches ISIS, says a policy that tells computer scientists they’re the ones who should “detect the bad guys” to create the government’s watch lists would create several problems. Social media companies would flag people based solely on feeds, rather than further vetting individuals before labeling them as suspicious.
“National security is the government’s job,” James says. “It’s like saying the security companies need to stop espionage. Or crime. Cops do that.”
In a speech about fighting terrorism Dec. 6, President Barack Obama said he will “urge high-tech and law enforcement leaders to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice.” The White House backed off the idea of weakening security measures for communications in October, though, agreeing with computer and technology experts that it would not be possible to do so without also offering criminals a gateway.
“We’re kind of stuck,” Lewis says. “We want security, but we also don’t want companies to be acting as censors, or agents of the state. It’s not, ‘Hey, you guys are in charge. Good luck.’ It’s developing some kind of cooperative relationship moving forward.”
What Role Should Technology Companies Play To Fight ISIS?
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