George Washington University recently held a form on fighting online radicalization and extremism with tech experts and government officials. This portion included a keynote address. Introductions were made by the Extremism Program director. Want to extend a welcome to our guests from the International Diplomatic corporate officials of the no Space Government including representatives from the department of state, justice and Homeland Security and the federal bureau of investigation. Also officials from allied governments and guests from technology, internet, and media sectors. This conference was two years in the planning and i originally discussed the idea with our alumni, surely after she was appointed minister of internet safety and security for the United Kingdom and may 2015. Youll have the privilege of hearing from her in a few moments. The idea we discussed was convene a global conference to bring together governments with conversations with experts in the field about the challenge of radicalization is a global phenomenon driven by the internet. This is a timely conversation especially this week in light of the events in london. Did have an opportunity to extend ambassador our condolences for the tragic events that took place last week. Here George Washington the Ground Breaking work of art extremism and center for cyber and security. The programs experts testifying capitol hill and our future in both top academic outlets. Just last night the Deputy Director was interviewed on cbss 60 minutes. The work of this program and others have identified a need for policy that will counter accusation when its in its infancy and take into account the International Scope of the problem. Its my pleasure to welcome doctor lorenzo. He is an expert on islamist movements in europe and north america Whose Research focus on policies countering radicalization, on the mobilization techniques of Jihadist Networks and activities of Muslim Brotherhood inspired organizations in the west. Here and a law degree and a doctorate. He has held positions at Harvard University at the Kennedy School of government, that the u. S. Institute of peace, and the center for Security Studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of technology. In 2016, he was opponent by italian Prime Minister as i coordinator of National Commission jihadist organization. Please join me in welcoming doctor lorenzo. [applause] thank you for the kind words and for entrusting us. Its major honor for us. On behalf of the program i would like to welcome you to this event on countering radicalization. Since our start two years ago been working on issues related to the topic. Were focusing our attention on isis and we look for all forms of extremism and have looked at rightwing extremism. Theres a lot of dynamics on online extremism. Throughout the work we have come to two conclusions. The first is that the internet plays a major role in radicalization processes. We did a study year and a half ago which was launched in this room about isis and america and the individuals of americans have radicalized and been arrested for isis activities. In 116 cases, not a single case where the internet to not play a role. The internet plays a role in all phases of the process. From the first account of the ideology to deepen the knowledge to invade iraq all the way to when they plan attacks. And again the 60 minute episode showed a case in which individuals were talking on to people in syria as theyre about to carry out attack in the homeland. The second conclusion is the importance of the internet should not be exaggerated. It is not just about the internet. Sometimes you hear narratives that make you think that if we did not have facebook or twitter there be no isis or terrorism. That is nonsense. Radicalization happens both online and offline. The interaction between the two spaces is what triggers and causes radicalization. What we want to do is provide balance of factbased analysis conducive to practical bipartisan solutions. Thats also the spirit that guided us as we plan for the conference. Many controversial issues surround the topic of online radicalization. These are common worldwide. Theres a big debate taking place in the United Kingdom on the aftermath of the london attacks and the government that seeks access to the conversations of the perpetrator. That ti debate is reminiscent of what we saw in the United States and the aftermath of the San Bernadino attacks. All countries have to deal with issues of privacy, encryption, secrecy and censorship. Balancing conflicting interests as we do so. All countries are struggling to find counter narratives. Another topic we want to cover the conference. The best way to go forward in the common goal is to bring to the same table in a neutral environment the key players in this debate and in particular industry and government. That is what we are doing today and tomorrow. You have the program. We engineered every panel starting with todays that includes people with government and industry. Im very glad to say we have an amazing array of speakers that includes two ministers and many other policymakers. Senior representatives and prominent journalists will help us facilitate the conversation. These are hard debates. They need to take place in public and in the reserves setting. That is why the conference is open to the public and everything is being broadcast on cspan will be broadcast on cspan tomorrow. Feel free to to eat or post, do what you want to do a social media. At the same time, we have seen more reserved moments dedicated to more intimate conversations among the stakeholders. Provided the space we hope we can provide a service that many policymakers in part practitioners were interested in the subject. Before introducing the keynote speaker may think a few people. First of all the president s map in his staff. The law school at gw with whom we have the privilege of partnering this event. In particular michael collins. I want to thank the staff of the program of extremism. Everybody has been fantastic and organizing a big event for us. Everybody needs to be acknowledged. Want to mention three people, alexander, provided and conceived a lot of the panels and a lot of organizations behind an event like this. Im very grateful. My honor to introduce her keynote speaker for the first day. He is a britishamerican technology veteran parliamentarian. Recently for the second term of internet safety and security. Under secretary of state Prime Minister tresa mae. She was made in 2013. She combats online harm full online crimes, child abuse and cyber hate and ensuring safe open access of the internet for everyone. Before joining the government she spent 25 years building some of the worlds bestknown technology companies. She has held senior positions at a number of companies could in google, facebook. She was involved in helping develop streaming technology and storage encryption. She served as a nonexecutive director on several boards including the London Stock Exchange group a trustee of save the children. An American School in london. In may 2016 shoes awarded to Doctor Public Service from george Washington University she received her degree in 1987. Please join me in welcoming our guests. [applause] thank you for the warm welcome. Its wonderful to be back at george Washington University, place im happy to call home. I want to thank and congratulate the team for convening this important gathering. To come together to discuss the Global Partnership to combat extremism online and all of its forms. It is ironic that one of humanitys greatest inventions, its most liberating invention, the internet is being misused as a vessel for violence and hate. It is no longer a matter of speculation that terrorists and extremists use internet platforms and applications to inspire violence or spread the ideology into plant attacks. Each attacking incident reconfirms this. Today we come together following another horrific attack, this one in london around the houses of parliament. My home, and my place of work. Five people tragically lost their lives. Fifty were injured, 30 were hospitalized. The victims came from tall different countries. Within 24 hours days claimed responsibility. We know how they use propaganda to reinforce grievance, ignite hatred. We know how they convince people to give up their lives to join the fight. They target those who are vulnerable or twice, invisible, feeling left out. The pool from which they recruit is expanding exponentially as billions are connected to social networks. Get unlike in the physical world where governments can take action to keep people safe and secure their homes and communities, the virtual spaces a different tummy. A domain of commercial companies. We must rely on them and their cooperation and support to keep people from harm. If we are to protect human life in this ever connected world, we need a new model of shared responsibility. This is the conversation of the act have with you today. I like to challenge our thinking and ask how we move from reacting to crisis to prevention of full acceptance of responsibility. In western societies we hold sacred democratic values, freedom of speech, rich privacy, rule of law, safety and security. These guys apply to the internet as well. We believe they must be free, open and accessible. There is growing public sentiment that not enough is being done to tackle extremists use of the internet. And so the question of what to do about it. We are at an impasse. The voices of consumers and brands are loud and clear. The recent top advertiser from social media platform sends a strong message to products and Services Must be promoted. Recently, germany propose legislation that set new standards without social Networking Companies should delete criminal content. The challenge with this is that regulation creates a new set of National Rules for businesses, which are by definition global and borderless. Theres significant complexity among any regime that governs online activity. Including keeping up with the current speed of technology. So, were at a critical moment. Governments and experts can provide Extensive Knowledge and rigorous understanding of the threat, industry is best placed Innovative Technical Solutions that address the threat specifically on their commercial platforms. They must innovate their response to identify removing the vile behavior. Together we can ensure that Everything Possible is done to stop it from infiltrating oppose placing the global audience. Increasingly we see a potent cycle of hate across multiple groups and ideologies. Is all fine of the extremists spectrum feed off each other escalating tensions. We saw this post loaded attack with this image appeared. The photographer said he posted it because it showed a young woman wearing a job that was traumatized by the events around her. This is not how she was pretrade on social media. The image was misappropriated by right wing groups as representing her as insensitive to the carnage of folding around her. The growing audacity of these groups is perpetuating the cycle. The far right asserts that islam represents the next essential threat to the west stating that all muslims are supportive of terrorism. They say this in terms of refugees on social media which the dignitaries those who are fleeing the atrocities of the middle east. That makes the news extremists narratives more palatable. Social Networks Connect likeminded individuals and amplify their passion. This is at the core of the Online Advertising business model. These connections can put people in chambers were highly emotive and passionate content amplified by these algorithms reinforces extremists as a gene. This creates an illusion of strength in numbers when in fact, the views are in fact french. Over the past year we have seen new developments such as the use of social media live during attacks that complicates disruption efforts. Terrorists documents their unspeakable actions and bask in personal moment of fame and notoriety. Furthermore, the footage and later released and used in instructional videos to inspire and incite more violence perpetuating a vicious cycle. The precedent for realtime sharing during a terrorist attack was tragically set in 2016 and the broadcast of a French Policeman in his wifes murder and social media where while their little boy looked on in horror. We saw this a few weeks ago during an attacking kabul were attackers posted by photos as the event was unfolding. Terrorists use the internet as a sphere of influence will continue to evolve and adapt. We need new methods to identify and remove terrorists content and deliver more effective counter narrative campaigns. We must be evidencebased. Too often were reactionary and do not adequately deal with the complexities that we face. Crisis in particular produces material designed to capitalize on Community Tensions and hostility toward muslims in the west. This further isolates groups away from mainstream society. Their messages every muslim has a duty to fight. That jihad is in fact, local as well as global. Theyre unable to travel there legitimate targets they can execute in their home countries. Following the attack on the berlins Christmas Market in december they released a statement on telegraph and arabic, and french and english encouraging supporters to carry out loan attacks in the west. During the holiday time advising supporters to target celebrations, clubs, hospitals, markets and theaters. Tragically this for told an attack on istanbul. We have seen this type of call before. The call for the Group Supporters to carry out terrorist attacks during ramadan. At the time, analysts regarded this call is persuasive. In fact, it prove deadly. It was the bloodiest ramadan the century. Other emergent narrative themes include the total rejection of Lgbtq Community center hatred of nationalism and secularism which has been cited at the attack in nice. This shift in their official Online Publications wellknown. The image on the left shows the legacy which encouraged supporters to embrace the caliphate and come to build a new state. The second show a newer publication which calls on followers to carry out acts of terrorism wherever they live, whenever they can. Reflecting the new reality of its survival as an ideology. Let me illustrate some of the atrocities that have been inspired as each edition contains graphic instructional video. The second edition call for loan act attacked using knives with a full demonstration on a hostage. This was replicated in the heinous murder of a French Police in normandy. Attacks in the minnesota Shopping Mall last year. The third edition advised its supporters to carry a vehicle based loan attacks praising the attack in nice and replicated in berlin and here in the United States at ohio state university. Recently, scene showing how to build a shrapnel filled i ed in the kitchen was disseminated. While than 100 links to this video were posted across 29 platforms in one hour. This was organized on telegram, distributed on twitter and the video was host are new to in google drive. Part of a terrorist ecosystem used by daesh to show that they have maximum impact. Twentyfour hours after the videos release, despite best efforts half of the links were still active. We should not be fooled by daesh ability to produce propaganda for their ability is a military losses mount. Their infrastructure has been compromised on the ground, its unofficial Brand Ambassadors have become prominent distributors of its propaganda. These create their own material which they promote and discuss across networks. Idolization of low nectar terrorists and martyrs for the cause six and increasing audacity and attacks and offers members a chance to gain fame and glory. We now see other terrorist groups mimicking their online attack with devastating consequences. In fact, we see an escalating competitive dynamic among terrorist groups. The savage gape of one ups midship. The past few weeks weve seen this syrian, Al Qaeda Linked franchise launch a new magazine. Professional media brand it uses for Online Communications and videos. In midmarch they released their first statement the quantity and quality of daeshs output, while fluctuating must not lose sight of other extremist groups seeking to increase the online president. Another group was described as glorifying terrorism. Having built up a fan base through the use of explicitly youthoriented material to reach new recruits. The ability for other terrorist groups propaganda to insight violence and attacks is no longer theoretical. As evidenced by the brutal murder of a member of parliame parliament, joe cox, last summer. The pie we face continues to grow. We must develop and deliver an ever stronger response. Some progress has been made and in the u. K. Weve developed a world approach to tackling terrorist and violent extremist the focus on two areas. We work with industry