Google's bid to ban IS footage

The web search giant has been recruiting moderators around the globe to help prevent YouTube from being hi-jacked for propaganda by militants.

The search giant will not disclose the number of new staff, but sources said it now has Arabic speakers in every time zone to deal with the problem.

The 22-minute film of Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh being burned alive was first uploaded to YouTube, where it remained for a number of hours before moderators removed it.

However, by that time, images were already being circulated on Twitter. 

Jonathan Russell, of Quilliam, a counter-extremism think-tank, said the tactic has had a major effect in helping Islamic State to radicalise new followers.

Hen said: 'They want to show that they're sticking it to the man, that they're fighting the West, and that they are willing to use violence. They want to show that they're not scared and that people are scared of them.'

He added: 'People are flocking to IS because it is winning the branding war among jihadis. In every other sense [apart from violence], they act like a multinational corporation.' 

Mr Russell welcomed Google's decision to take action, saying that the American technology giant was among a number of major technology companies that had started taking more action against extremist content in the last six months.

'I really see a sea change,' he said. 'It is pretty young still. It hasn't been long enough to see a shift in results, but I am [gratified] that they are tackling it in the right way.'

Guidelines ban YouTube users from uploading videos that 'incites others to commit violent acts', but it does not filter content before it goes online. Instead, the general public can flag up controversial content.

The company has also handed special powers to users such as the Home Office, which reliably flag extremist content, making it easy for them to report hundreds of controversial videos at a time.

Google's army of moderators then comb through the content and decide whether it is suitable for YouTube, whether it needs to be removed, or censored with a warning or age-barrier.

It allows 'graphic violence' to remain on the site if it is deemed to have enough documentary value - for example as a news source - but it deletes the most extreme footage and bars any accounts run by terrorist groups. 

A spokesman said: 'YouTube has clear policies, and we remove videos violating these policies when flagged by our users.' 

(dailymail.co.uk)