The Liberal government has announced $1.9 million in funding over three years to combat online terrorist and extremist activity.."We need to confront the rise of hate and violent extremism" Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Twitter on Tuesday. "At the Christchurch Call Summit, I announced that Canada will fund a new tool that helps small and medium-size online platforms better identify and counter content related to terrorism and violent extremism.".A statement from Public Safety Canada said that as earth becomes increasingly connected through digital devices and expanding online networks, knowledge is "continuously available at our fingertips."."With information so easy to access, the Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that social media and other online platforms are not used as tools to incite, publish and promote terrorism, violence, and hatred," they said..On Thursday, Trudeau announced that the Canadian government will provide funding to Tech Against Terrorism for phase 2 of their Terrorist Content Analytics Platform (TCAP), an online tool that automates the detection and analysis of terrorist content..According to the press release, phase 2 of TCAP will expand its capabilities to identify and assess more types of extremist content across a wider range of platforms. It will also provide a content moderation tool to assist smaller tech companies in removing the content..This funding is being made available through the Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence's Community Resiliance Fund. This fund provides financial support to organizations striving to improve Canada's understanding of and ability to prevent violent extremism..The federal Liberals previously provided $1 million in funding in June 2019 in support of the Christchurch Call to Eliminate Terrorists & Violent Extremist Content Online..“Terrorist and extremist views and content do not belong anywhere online where they can influence others and incite violence," said Marco Mendicino, minister of public safety. "The Government of Canada is investing in real tools that can make the Internet a safer place for Canada, Canadians and the world.”.The Christchurch Call was launched by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron in 2019 after 51 people were killed at two mosques in the New Zealand city while the shooter live-streamed the killing on Facebook.
