Google is using Jigsaw to track terrorism in the dusty corners of the internet

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New free Google tool aims to help smaller online platforms scrub terrorist content

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Google has released a new free tool to help track and tackle terrorism on small community built platforms.

Known as Altitude, the tool is built by Google’s dedicated Jigsaw unit, which is tasked with tracking extremist content and misinformation on the internet.

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Small platforms swarmed by extremist content

Small online communities often struggle to combat the distribution and sharing of extremist content due to a lack of dedicated regulation and resources.

That is why Google has released Altitude as a free service for small communities to use, as they often don’t have pockets deep enough to pay for dedicated anti-terrorism tools.

Content that has been created by extremist groups is identified through the use of image hashes, which it collates into the online database. These digital fingerprints then help identify extremist content on small platforms.

The Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism - a group formed in 2017 by industry leading names such as YouTube, Microsoft, Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter) - is also assisting with the project by providing its existing wealth of knowledge surrounding online terrorist content.

Speaking to Wired, the CEO of Jigsaw Yasmin Green, said, “Islamic State and other terrorist groups didn’t give up on the Internet just because they no longer had the megaphone of their social media platforms. They went elsewhere. They found this opportunity to host content on file-hosting sites or other websites, small and medium platforms.

“Those platforms were not welcoming terrorist content, but they were still hosting it - and actually, quite a lot of it.”

Altitude can be integrated straight into the backend of any website, and then can be used to check if content has been designated as extremist or created by terrorist groups. The content is verified by Tech Against Terrorism’s Terrorist Content Analytics Platform, which hosts the database containing designated terrorist content.

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Benedict Collins
Benedict Collins
Senior Writer, Security

Benedict is a Senior Security Writer at TechRadar Pro, where he has specialized in covering the intersection of geopolitics, cyber-warfare, and business security.

Benedict provides detailed analysis on state-sponsored threat actors, APT groups, and the protection of critical national infrastructure, with his reporting bridging the gap between technical threat intelligence and B2B security strategy.

Benedict holds an MA (Distinction) in Security, Intelligence, and Diplomacy from the University of Buckingham Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies (BUCSIS), with his specialization providing him with a robust academic framework for deconstructing complex international conflicts and intelligence operations, and the ability to translate intricate security data into actionable insights.