Six experts quit terrorism watchdog

Six of nine independent experts on the advisory board of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism resigned on Monday, according to a letter seen by WIRED and interviews with four of the people.

Meta wanted to end scrutiny

In July, Meta vice president Nell McCarthy told the experts the consortium no longer wanted their scrutiny on the effectiveness of Big Tech's efforts to curtail violence, proposing to refresh the six-year-old committee.

Tech companies would pick members

Under the proposed plan, new advisory committee members would be picked by tech companies instead of being elected by current members, a significant shift in how the group would be governed.

Committee stripped of power

The committee would be barred from weighing in on key topics such as the consortium's performance and making recommendations together as a group, effectively neutering its role as a watchdog.

Experts call it decoration

In their resignation letter, the departing members wrote that a body that cannot scrutinise, take a position, or evaluate is not an advisory body at all. It is decoration and accountability theatre.

“We all know that a body that cannot scrutinise, take a position, or evaluate is not an advisory body at all. It is decoration and accountability theatre.”

GIFCT defends the changes

The GIFCT said the proposed changes have been informed by several rounds of feedback and aim to more effectively engage civil society and governments, with multi-stakeholderism as a core principle.

Prior problems with the group

A WIRED investigation in two thousand twenty-four uncovered several issues with GIFCT, including Meta delaying TikTok's membership bid and poor relations between the companies and the unpaid independent advisory body.

Extremism challenge grows

The dismantling of the advisory group threatens to deteriorate the organisation's work at a time when balancing free expression and online safety has become more challenging, with AI-generated extremist content and AI-supported scams now persistent issues.

Experts fear long-term damage

One departing expert said there won't be critical voices raising concerns about what GIFCT is doing or not doing, and that while it may seem politically convenient for tech companies, they will regret it in the longer term.

“There won't be critical voices raising concerns about what GIFCT is doing or is not doing. It may seem politically convenient for them to abolish the independent advisory committee, but they are going to regret it in the longer term.”

Model may have run its course

One expert predicted that new members recruited to the renamed community will quickly reach the same conclusion as those who resigned, suggesting the GIFCT model itself may have run its course.

“We will be on a merry-go round. It may just be that the GIFCT model has run its course.”