Violent Extremism on-line: Drivers, Evidence and a Way Forward

What are the drivers of violent extremism on-line? What do we know about its impact? How do we engage industry and leverage the potential of modern analytical techniques to create capabilities to monitor for "risk factors" while remaining consistent with important principles as the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights?

On 1 December 2016 I was privileged to address the United Nations Security Council special meeting of the Counter Terrorist Committee. My remarks addressed the issue of violent extremism online and what industry, governments, and civil societies can do about it. The presentation included evidence from a recent scoping study of violent extremism SecDev undertook on behalf of the United Nations in Bangladesh.

I'm immensely proud to serve as an advisor to the United Nations Counterterrorism Executive Directorate/ ICTforPeace Foundation initiative that brings together industry leaders including Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Kaspersky labs in charting a new global public partner partnership around addressing violent extremism online. The work of this group has been exemplary, and in 2017 SecDev will be organizing a major international event in Canada focused on this issue. If you are industry leader, or scholar interested in contributing to an Open Data Standard for Community Security, please get in touch. We anticipate announcing dates and a preliminary working agenda early in January 2017.