Google Hiring 'Army' of Arab Speakers to Fight Jihadi Recruitment

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Ekaterina Blinova – As the number of Islamic extremists grows on the internet, Google has been hiring Arab speaking moderators around the world in order to prevent jihadi recruiters from using its popular YouTube service.

"The search giant will not disclose the number of new staff, but sources said it now has Arabic speakers in every time zone to deal with the problem," the Daily Mail reported.

Quilliam, a London-based counter-terrorism think-tank, points out, that modern jihadists use advanced technologies to create extremist content and disseminate it via social media networks and YouTube to attract potential followers.

"They want to show that they're sticking it to the man, that they're fighting the West, and that they are willing to use violence. They want to show that they're not scared and that people are scared of them. People are flocking to ISIL because it is winning the branding war among jihadis. In every other sense [apart from violence], they act like a multinational corporation," elaborated Jonathan Russell, Quilliam's expert, as quoted by the Daily Mail.

Although YouTube has repeatedly announced it would ban any content propagating violence and extremism, the problem is the service does not filter videos before they spread online. It is expected that the public would immediately react and flag up radical materials. Thus far, Google has provided its users with extended rights and tools such as the Home Office, allowing them to report multiple controversial films at a time.

However, hours passed before the footage of horrific Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh execution by the Islamic State terrorists was deleted from YouTube.

The Quilliam representative hailed the decision of Google to hire "an army" of Arab speakers in every time zone to contain the spread of radical materials over YouTube.

"I really see a sea change. It is pretty young still. It hasn't been long enough to see a shift in results, but I am [gratified] that they are tackling it in the right way," Jonathan Russell emphasized, adding that more and more IT giants are joining the battle against Islamist threat.

Google notified its users that 'graphic violence,' excluding that of documentary value, would be deleted from its platforms, while terrorist groups' accounts would be banned.