FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Disclaimer: Please note that the opinions expressed on this website and as a result of the Terrorist Content Analytics Platform (TCAP) project represent the views of Tech Against Terrorism and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Government of Canada.
GENERAL
What is the Terrorist Content Analytics Platform (TCAP)?
The Terrorist Content Analytics Platform (TCAP) is a secure online tool that automates the detection and analysis of verified terrorist content on smaller internet platforms. This will represent the world’s largest structured dataset of verified terrorist content and will support smaller platforms in making better content moderation decisions, improve the analytical basis of academic research, and will augment efforts to use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to detect terrorist content at scale.
Why is Tech Against Terrorism developing the TCAP?
In providing the TCAP to small tech platforms for free, Tech Against Terrorism will support small tech companies in improving content moderation decisions where often the smallest platforms have limited resources to do this on their own. This is in line with Tech Against Terrorism’s mission to support the global tech industry – and in particular smaller platforms with limited capacity – in tackling terrorist use of the internet whilst respecting human rights. The TCAP will also facilitate secure academic research and analysis of terrorist use of the internet using the latest methodologies from advanced analytics and data science. This will help increase understanding of the threat and identify ways to improve the global response. The database of human verified terrorist content will include videos, PDF, audio, text, and will be available to vetted data science researchers to improve existing training sets for AI.
How is development of the TCAP funded?
The TCAP is funded by Public Safety Canada through the Community Resilience Fund, a grants and contributions program which provides financial assistance to support partnerships and innovation in countering radicalisation to violence, with additional support provided by QuantSpark.
Will the TCAP cost money to use or access?
Access and use of the TCAP will be free for smaller platforms and academics given our Acceptable Use Policy.
Who will have access to the TCAP?
Access to the TCAP will be granted to tech companies, academic researchers, and civil society representatives who have a legitimate justification for accessing terrorist content. All access will be vetted to ensure that there is no exploitation of the platform.
Do governments have access to the TCAP?
Governments do not have access to the TCAP. Whilst the TCAP is sponsored by the Government of Canada, they do not have access, and neither does any other government. Only tech companies, academics, and civil society members who have a legitimate reason for accessing the TCAP will be allowed access.
When the TCAP team monitors terrorist channels and content notice an immediate and credible threat to life, Tech Against Terrorism will alert United Kingdom police.
Which tech platforms will be able to use the TCAP?
In line with Tech Against Terrorism’s tech-agnostic approach focusing on the entire tech eco-system, the TCAP will be available for use by all types of tech platforms. This includes social media, file-sharing, link-shortening, content storage, blockchain, video-sharing, content-pasting, archiving, blogging, fintech, e-commerce, encrypted messaging, VPNs, gaming, and email services.
How can I learn more about the TCAP?
Further updates on TCAP development progress and functionality will by provided regularly through our email newsletter and on the Project News section of this website. If you have any specific questions about the TCAP you can contact us.
How can I support the TCAP?
As a not-for-profit initiative Tech Against Terrorism is always looking for ways to foster innovation and partner with experts in this field. If you would like to contribute as a counter-terrorism researcher, data scientist, product manager, or application tester, please contact us.
When will TCAP be available to use?
The first version of the TCAP is live and available for beta testing to tech platforms. We plan to release the second version of the TCAP in 2022 with access to the TCAP archive by verified researchers. If you would like to contribute to TCAP feature ideas, development and testing, including potential early access to new features, please contact us or attend our monthly Office Hours.
What other services does Tech Against Terrorism provide?
Tech Against Terrorism offers mentorship services for tech companies who want to improve their internal processes and policies to better combat terrorist use of their services. Click here to find out more.
BENEFITS
How will the TCAP support smaller tech companies?
Terrorist and violent extremist use of the internet is increasingly concentrated on smaller platforms. Our mission at Tech Against Terrorism is to support smaller platforms in tackling the terrorist use of their services whilst respecting human rights. Despite having limited capacity, smaller platforms may face large volumes of terrorist content on their platforms. The TCAP will support smaller tech companies in two specific ways. Firstly, it will help identify terrorist content on smaller tech platforms. Secondly, the TCAP will provide a light-weight content moderation workflow to facilitate moderation decisions and transparency reporting. All alerts will be made on an advisory basis and it will be up to each company decide how to take action on content based on their own content standards.
What other services are provided to tech companies?
In support of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT), Tech Against Terrorism runs a program of Mentorship in which we provide free support to smaller platforms to help them develop and improve their processes with regards to responding to terrorist use of their platform. This includes policy guidance around Terms of Service, content moderation practices, and transparency reporting of action taken on terrorist content. We also work with tech companies to ensure that they live up to international norms around human rights and freedom of expression as stated in the Tech Against Terrorism Pledge.
How will the TCAP support academics and researchers?
By making verified terrorist content freely accessible for vetted academics and researchers, the TCAP will help improve quantitative and qualitative analysis of terrorist use of the internet. Tech Against Terrorism will, in consultation with leading academics and researchers, ensure that we implement features on the TCAP that facilitate research and analysis in a manner that accounts for researcher welfare. Using methodologies from advanced analytics and data science, the TCAP will also quantify terrorist content in a number of ways and will apply NLP techniques to content to support more scalable analysis of terrorist content including its symbolism, narratives, metadata.
CONTENT
Why aren't all terrorist groups included in Phase 1?
In Phase 1 of TCAP development we focus on IS, AQ, and designated far-right terrorism affiliated content given consensus regarding legal designation of these groups. At Tech Against Terrorism we call for improved designation of terrorist groups so that all threats are covered by international law. In the future we are considering expanding the TCAP to cover other terrorist ideologies and groups.
What type of files will be available?
The TCAP will store all content file types, including video, images, audio, text, PDF, and html files.
Can users download content from the platform?
No. All content on the TCAP will be locked to the TCAP in order to prevent onward dissemination of highly sensitive material. All users of the TCAP will agree to this condition before being granted access as we believe it is important not to promote terrorist content on the open internet and mainstream media.
How will content be added to TCAP?
Content will be uploaded to the TCAP based on a semi-automated process that is guided by our Academic Advisory Board and contributed content by tech platforms. All content will undergo a verification process and there will be appropriate review mechanisms in place to ensure content meets the criteria for being labelled as terrorist content. All recommendations on the TCAP are advisory with tech platforms having the final decisions on all content moderation decisions.
How will content be verified?
Our in-house experts verify terrorist content that is up for inclusion in the TCAP to ensure that it falls in scope of the TCAP and is aligned with our policies, particularly our group inclusion policy.
They do this according to two criteria: the source of the content and the actual content itself. To verify the source, our experts identify core beacon channels through which a terrorist groups’ messaging and propaganda is shared.
In order to assess the content, our team conducts an intelligence assessment that evaluates attributes of the content that indicate a high level of probability that the material was produced by a designated terrorist organisation in scope of the TCAP.
We will provide more detail in our soon-to-be released content verification policy.
Will the TCAP ingest terrorist content that is referred by others?
We plan to introduce referrals later in 2021. With referrals, we mean that trusted flaggers of the TCAP can refer content to the TCAP which will then be checked and verified by our in-house terrorism experts. Only if the TCAP team has verified the content will an alert be sent to tech companies and will the media be made available on the TCAP.
What do we mean by content moderation?
For Tech Against Terrorism content moderation means the process which a company undertakes to identify, manage, and respond to content that may violate its content standards and/or legislation. It is important to note that responses are not limited to content removal but also include alternative methods of moderation, such as (but not limited to) geo-blocking, down-ranking, and password-protection.
CONSIDERATIONS
What specific considerations is Tech Against Terrorism taking in developing the TCAP?
In developing the TCAP, Tech Against Terrorism is paying particular attention to the following: • Accuracy of content included • Privacy and security of those using the platform • Transparency and accountability – ensuring that the TCAP is developed in a transparent manner where there is opportunity to challenge specific content inclusions • Tech platform autonomy in making moderation decisions • Welfare and mental health of all platform users
Has there been any public consultation on the TCAP?
Developing the TCAP in a transparent and accountable manner is our top priority. In late 2019 Tech Against Terrorism commenced a consultation process to ensure that these considerations are accounted for. This process included a meeting during the UN General Assembly Week in New York, as well as an online public consultation process, the results of which are available here. Tech Against Terrorism is also carrying out consultations with tech companies, academics, and civil society groups on an ongoing basis. If you would like to contribute to TCAP feature ideas, development and testing, including potential early-access to new features please contact us.
How is the accuracy of content stored on the TCAP verified, and what measures are taken to ensure that legitimate and/or legal content is not included?
Tech Against Terrorism will appoint an Academic Advisory Board that is tasked with verifying samples of content to ensure accuracy. If you have recommendations as to whom you think should be included and what considerations should be made make in designing and appointing this board, please contact us.
What type of oversight will there be?
Tech Against Terrorism will introduce an oversight function to help ensure that the TCAP does not have adverse effect on human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression. This includes the ability to challenge specific content inclusions and to have them reviewed by either the academic advisory board or a separate oversight entity. Tech Against Terrorism will also publish regular transparency reports regarding the TCAP pursuant to our own guidelines on transparency reporting.
What security and privacy protection measures will be put in place?
Given the nature of content available on TCAP, it is being developed with the strongest considerations to information and data security for user data, content, and subjects show or referenced in terrorist content. As well as data protection laws, the TCAP is developed to be compatible with existing Counter Terrorism legislation in the United Kingdom, Canada, European Union, and the United States. Tech Against Terrorism will anonymise user data and protect the subjects of content available on the platform including faces, names, and other personable identifiable information (PII) in consideration of GDPR legal obligations.
ALERTS
What is the TCAP email alert?
The Terrorist Content Analytics Platform (TCAP) actively monitors terrorist messaging channels, social media, websites and archives. Throughout this process we regularly discover terrorist content (audio recordings, videos, images, documents) that has been uploaded and shared across the internet. We alert those tech platforms about this content and recommend that it be reviewed.
I have recieved an email alert, what do I do now?
Alerts are sent to tech platforms that we suspect are being used to host and distribute terrorist content (audio recordings, videos, images, documents). They include the specific URL's that we have identified and we recommend that you review these URL's in line with applicable Terms of Use policies, and make a decision about content moderation.
How do I change which email address recieves these alerts in future?
Send an email to [email protected] with the new recipient email address and we will promptly update our records.
How can I stop receiving emails alerts?
Send an email to [email protected] with a request to stop recieving these alerts and we will promptly update our records.