Artificial Intelligence to Counter Cyber-Terrorism
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This paper discusses the role of disruptive and innovative technologies for countering the spread of terrorist online content (TCO). In particular, it focuses on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in support to Host Service Providers (HSPs) and Law and Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). The violent and terrorist content is more and more disseminated online taking advantages of the opportunities offered by Internet. The diffusion of terrorist propaganda has a negative impact on the civil society and poses several risks. For this reason, the European institutions published in 2021 the Regulation (EU) 2021/784 to address the misuse of hosting services for the dissemination to the public of TOC. It regulates the measures to be applied by HSPs and Member States’ authorities in order to identify and ensure the quick TOC removal and to facilitate cooperation with each other and Europol. In order to be compliant with these dispositions, AI-based disruptive technologies can provide LEAs and HSPs, especially the small and micro-ones, a concreate support. The implementation of the Regulation and the use of AI technologies have legal and ethical implications that have to be considered. The paper is based on the work and preliminary research conducted in the framework of the European funded project ALLIES, “AI based framework for supporting micro and small Hosting Service Providers (HSPs) on the report and removal of online terrorist content”, Grant Number 101080090.
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