G-20 leaders resolve to prevent exploitation of Internet for terrorism

In view of the growing use of the Internet in carrying out terror activities across the globe, G-20 leaders on Saturday urged online platforms "to do their part" in protecting the people from terrorist and violent extremism conducive to terrorism (VECT) exploitation of the Internet.

"We, the leaders of the G20, reaffirm our strongest condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. The live-streamed Christchurch terrorist attacks and other recent atrocities demonstrate the urgency with which we must fully implement relevant UN resolutions, the UN Global Counter. Terrorism Strategy and other instruments, including the 2017 Hamburg G20 Leaders' Statement on Countering Terrorism," said G-20 leaders in a statement.

"We urge online platforms to step up the ambition and pace of their efforts to prevent terrorist and VECT content from being streamed, uploaded, or re-uploaded. We strongly encourage a concerted effort to set out, implement and enforce terms of service to detect and prevent terrorist and VECT content from appearing on their platforms," they added.

The statement titled 'Preventing Exploitation of the Internet for Terrorism and Violent Extremism Conducive to Terrorism' was signed by 20 members during the 14th edition of G-20 Summit here, which concluded today.

"We underline the importance of online platforms addressing it, in a timely manner, to prevent proliferation, while ensuring that documentary evidence is preserved. We welcome online platforms' commitment to providing regular and transparent public reporting as set out in their policies and procedures," the statement further said.

This statement holds significance as unlike previous years, this time G-20 leaders have released a separate statement condemning terrorism and reaffirming their commitment to ensuring "the security of our citizens" and have talked about the prevention of the use of the internet for terrorism.

On March 15, Tarrant, a 28-year-old suspected white supremacist from Australia, stormed into two mosques at Christchurch in New Zealand during congregational prayers and indiscriminately opened fire on the assembled. Fewer than 200 people watched the live stream during the attack, which Facebook said it removed 29 minutes after it began. But within 24 hours, users had attempted to re-upload the video onto Facebook more than 1.5 million times. More than a month after the shooting, its copies could still be found on major tech sites.

Last year in Argentina, the leaders of 20 major economies had gathered. The issue of terrorism was a part of the main declaration, and was mentioned in only two points -- 25 and 30.

"We reaffirm our strong condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. We commit to the full implementation of The Hamburg G20 Leaders Statement on Countering Terrorism. We will step up our efforts in fighting terrorist and proliferation financing, and money laundering," G-20 leaders had said in their statement adopted at the last year' summit.

"We urge the digital industry to work together to fight exploitation of the internet and social media for terrorist purposes," the world leaders had stated.