Dive Brief:
- Officials from the White House, U.S. intelligence services and law enforcement are expected to meet with Silicon Valley executives today to discuss how to curb social media use by militant groups, like the Islamic State group, Reuters reports.
- The meeting follows recent attacks in which militant groups used social media to both spread propaganda and coordinate.
- A Reuters source said the meeting will solely focus on social media content, not encrypted communications.
Dive Insight:
Some of the expected attendees include FBI Director James Comey, National Intelligence Director James Clapper, National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers and leaders from Twitter, Apple, Facebook and Google. Along with the social media purveyors, software and storage providers Microsoft and Dropbox are also expected to attend.
The meeting participants reportedly will discuss how to make it more difficult for militants to recruit and mobilize its followers and how to facilitate law enforcement and intelligence agencies' ability to identify militant operatives.
In December during an address from the Oval Office, President Barack Obama said, "I will urge high-tech and law enforcement leaders to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice."
Tech firms have been increasingly cooperative in the effort.
