US govt to hold meeting with IT firms on counter-terrorism

After the San Bernardino shooting last month, Prez Obama had asked tech leaders to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice

With ISIS and al-Qaeda using social media to propagate their message of hate and recruit jihadists, top US officials will soon meet executives of the top Silicon Valley IT companies to work out a plan to make it harder for terrorist groups to use such technology.

The Obama Administration would seek the help of the IT companies to block the dangerous dissemination of messages of hate and recruitment place by the terrorist groups without compromising the freedom of speech of people, officials said.

The US Government at this unique Silicon Valley meeting would be represented by Attorney General Loretta Lynch, FBI Director James Comey, White House chief of staff Denis McDonough and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

Invitation have been sent to major Silicon Valley IT companies including Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft and Apple, whose CEO Tim Cook is expected to attend the meeting.

After the San Bernardino shooting last month, President Barack Obama had asked tech leaders to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice.

"The primary purpose is for government officials to press the biggest Internet firms to take a more proactive approach to countering terrorist messages and recruitment online," The Wall Street Journal reported.

Officials see it as a bull session to learn how they might use technology to "disrupt paths to radicalisation to violence" and "identify recruitment patterns" as well as to measure efforts to countering radicalisation, according to an agenda obtained by The Washington Post.