Zoom, a video-conferencing platform, has joined a counter-terrorism group led by Meta Platforms Inc (FB.O), formerly known as Facebook, and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), according to the group’s announcement on Wednesday.
The move is the latest expansion of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT), a non-profit organization whose members share information to combat terrorism and violent extremism on their websites.
Zoom Video Communications Inc (ZM.O), whose platform enjoyed massive growth during the COVID-19 outbreak but has slowed in recent months, has been under fire for how its policies content and abuses.
GIFCT acquired five additional platforms this year, including home-rental behemoth Airbnb (ABNB.O), social network Tumblr, and online publishing platform WordPress, as part of its stated goal of broadening its member companies. It presently has 18 members and expects to add more in 2022, according to the organization.
Tech corporations have often been chastised for failing to prevent violent extremism on their platforms, but there are also concerns about free speech.
Following a succession of deadly incidents in Paris and Brussels, the GIFCT was formed in 2017 under pressure from the US and European governments. Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter (TWTR.N), and Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) YouTube were among the group’s initial members.
The organization maintains a hash-sharing database where member organizations can share “hashes,” which are unique numerical representations of original content that has been deleted from their services. These hashes can be used by other organizations to identify similar content on other sites and evaluate or remove it.
“It is our responsibility to support our users and protect them against online threats,” said Josh Parecki, Zoom’s associate general counsel for trust and safety, in a statement. “By collaborating with other leaders across the industry, sharing key learnings, and advancing research, we aspire to make the digital world a safer place for all.”
As individuals and companies turned to video-conferencing apps during COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, Zoom faced high-profile content moderation issues.
On Wednesday, GIFCT announced the creation of a new membership structure based on firm revenue, with proposed yearly donations ranging from $0 to $1 million. It stated that a company’s revenue was not a criterion for membership.
Pinterest (PINS.N), Amazon.com (AMZN.O), and the file-sharing service Dropbox are among the group’s members (DBX.O). Other companies with access to the hash-sharing database include Reddit and Snap (SNAP.N), which owns Snapchat.
