Tests have shown this new tool can automatically detect 94%
of Daesh propaganda with 99.995% accuracy. It has an
extremely high degree of accuracy, for instance if it
analyses one million randomly selected videos, only 50
would require additional human review. The tool can be used
by any platform, and integrated into the upload process, so
that the majority of video propaganda is stopped before it
ever reaches the internet.
Developed by the Home Office and ASI Data Science, the
technology uses advanced machine learning to analyse the
audio and visuals of a video to determine whether it could
be Daesh propaganda.
The Home Office and ASI will be sharing the methodology
behind the new model with smaller companies, in order to
help combat the abuse of their platforms by terrorists and
their supporters.
Many of the major tech companies have developed technology
specific to their own platforms and have publicly reported
on the difference this is making in their fight against
terrorist content. Smaller platforms, however, are
increasingly targeted by Daesh and its supporters and they
often do not have the same level of resources to develop
technology.
The model, which has been trained using over 1,000 Daesh
videos, is not specific to one platform so can be used to
support the detection of terrorist propaganda across a
range of video-streaming and download sites in real-time.
Welcoming the new technology Home Secretary said:
Over the last year we have been engaging with internet
companies to make sure that their platforms are not being
abused by terrorists and their supporters. I have been
impressed with their work so far following the launch of
the Global Internet Forum to Counter-Terrorism, although
there is still more to do, and I hope this new technology
the Home Office has helped develop can support others to
go further and faster.
The purpose of these videos is to incite violence in our
communities, recruit people to their cause, and attempt
to spread fear in our society. We know that automatic
technology like this, can heavily disrupt the terrorists’
actions, as well as prevent people from ever being
exposed to these horrific images.
This Government has been taking the lead worldwide in
making sure that vile terrorist content is stamped out.
The announcement comes as the Home Secretary travels to
Silicon Valley to hold a series of meetings with the main
communication service providers to discuss tackling
terrorist content online. She is expected to discuss the
new model on her visit to find out what companies are doing
to develop innovative methods that identify Daesh
propaganda, and support smaller companies, such as Vimeo,
Telegra.ph and pCloud to remove terrorist content from
their platforms.
Separately, new Home Office analysis demonstrates that
Daesh supporters used more than 400 unique online platforms
to push out their poisonous material in 2017, highlighting
the importance of technology that can be applied across
different platforms. Previous research has found the
majority of links to Daesh propaganda are disseminated
within two hours of release, while a third of all links are
disseminated within the first hour.
The new research also shows 145 new platforms from July
until the end of the year had not been used before.
As part of her two day visit to San Francisco, the Home
Secretary will also meet Secretary of Homeland Security
Kirstjen Nielsen to discuss how the UK and US can work
together to tackle terrorist content online, and appear
together at a Digital Forum event today (Tuesday). The Home
Secretary will also meet with the Global Internet Forum to
Counter Terrorism, which was launched last year following a
roundtable convened at the Home Office in the aftermath of
the Westminster Bridge attack.
