Meta-Led Anti-Terrorism Group Faces Mass Resignation of Expert Advisers

Meta and other tech giants are pushing through structural changes at the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism that outside researchers allege will weaken oversight of an already embattled consortium. Six of the nine independent experts on the advisory board of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism --a consortium run by several of the biggest US tech companies--resigned on Monday, according to a letter seen by WIRED and interviews with four of the people. The tensions between the independent advisory committee and the GIFCT date back to an email the counterterrorism and free speech experts received in July from Meta's Nell McCarthy, a vice president overseeing content policy. For years, the group had advised the GIFCT on how to prevent platforms from becoming havens for the radical organizations and individuals blamed for some of the world's worst mass violence. But McCarthy wrote that while the consortium welcomed the experts' insights on violent trends, it no longer desired their scrutiny on the effectiveness of Big Tech's efforts to curtail violence.