According to a report from BuzzFeed News, a handful of tech executives are set to meet with White House officials to discuss measures that can be taken to prevent terror recruitment online. Apple CEO Tim Cook is among the tech executives that will participate in the meeting, which is set to take place in San Jose tomorrow, January 8th. Other companies that will be represented include Twitter, Facebook, Microsoft, and Google.
The meeting is said to be centered around the ability of terror groups to use social media and other online platforms to radicalize individuals. The White House officials are said to want to discuss how social media can be used to help others promote alternatives views “to undercut ISIS.”
Speaking to BuzzFeed News, a White House official stated that the United States government sees Silicon Valley as a critical part of fighting the propaganda from radical terror groups online.
“The White House sees Silicon Valley as an integral part of fighting the propaganda from ISIL and other groups. There needs to be a concerted effort to fight the ISIL propaganda,” the White House official explained.
The idea that tech companies should be doing more to aid the United States government in its fight against terror has been growing in wake of recent attacks around the world, including the ones in San Bernardino and Paris. Tim Cook has long argued that there should not be backdoor access to Apple’s servers by anyone, including the government, saying that there shouldn’t have to be a choice between privacy and national security.
Last year, Tim Cook was the only CEO to take part in a cybersecurity summit at the White House, with CEOs from Google, Yahoo, and Facebook all declining to attend. Cook gave a speech in which he again offered his opinion that there shouldn’t be a backdoor to user data.
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Get ready for back doors in iOS folks.
Really it’s some NSA stuff lol
Why is 9to5Mac always picking this same stupid picture of Tim Cook looking like he’s just been announced Apple has been nationalised?
Stay Strong Tim…Keep to what you believe in…. Tell them to do their jobs Better…
Government would have you believe terrorism just springs up out of nowhere, like a magic freedom-hating flower patch, that it has absolutely nothing to do with the cultural environment, the poverty level, the ghastly foreign policy of other nations….I hope he tells these morons to do their own job and do a better job rather than passing the buck to tech companies with deep pockets.
Don’t give in Tim…
Continued talk about ‘back doors’
Lets be clear – most IT/Comms firms cooperate with law enforcement.
Not a ‘back door’ – cops go to the corporation and say child X is missing or person Y is trying to groom a 14 year old for sex or group Z is pushing out beheading videos. The relevant firm looks at it and – if it’s reasonable – they give the cops information or they cut people off from the service. If it’s not reasonable, they decline the request: cops don’t get an open back door to private systems.
Apple claims they need to obstruct law enforcement by deliberately setting up (some but not all) of their services and hardware to make this impossible.
Apple claim that they just can’t provide law enforcement with lawful disclosure without compromising security – yet other corporations seem to be able to do it. I call Apple’s claims BS – if they really can’t secure our personal information without it having end to end crypto then we all need to be very worried: our credit card and personal info is with Apple.
I’m in favour of moving to disclosure being on warrant only – including the other firms who currently make their own decisions about whats reasonable. If we have to pay for some more judges to consider all the warrants, so be it. That’s what happens for search warrants and there can be judges on call to do it promptly, 24/7 in emergencies. A bit more work for the cops? So be it.
I say it’s time for Apple to provide reasonable and lawful support to law enforcement – and not just for ‘terrorism.’
Fighting terrorism with online propaganda? I’m hoping we have a ‘Plan B’… Over generations, yes education and effective communication can be a viable tool against all forms of hatred, but in the short term I don’t know if terrorist that are mowing people down with machine guns will check out the ad on the CNN app that lets them know that violence is bad. Just saying…