Facebook’s parent company, Meta, has created an open-source programme that it says can combat violent extremist and terrorist content online.
The programme, also known as Hasher-Matcher-Actioner (HMA), may recognise dubious content, such as duplicates of pictures or films that are objectionable and that have been reported by users. It can then take concerted action to combat such content.
According to Meta, a variety of businesses that want to combat terrorism on their platforms and stop its spread can use the Hasher-Matcher-Actioner (HMA) technology. It is especially helpful for smaller businesses because they lack the substantial resource reserves that larger ones do.
To aid themselves and Meta in keeping the violent and abusive information off the internet, businesses desiring to use this product can simply run all of their content through the hash-sharing database and follow the methods outlined above.
The California-based company’s move to make the tool publicly accessible comes just before it takes over as board chair of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) in January.
To combat violent extremist and terrorist content online, this coalition of businesses, governments, and civil society organisations works together. Its original founder is Meta.
In addition to having a dedicated team of hundreds of individuals working around the clock with professionals from law enforcement and national security agencies to counter-terror work, Meta estimates that it spent $5 billion on safety and security internationally last year. It will be further strengthened by the new initiative.
