Google is redirecting people looking for information on ISIS to anti-ISIS videos
Google is great at helping you get to where you want to go online, but now the search engine is working to redirect some high-risk individuals toward material that could potentially save lives, Wired reports. Jigsaw, a Google-owned think tank, is redirecting potential recruits to the Islamic State away from radical Islamist propaganda and toward videos that debunk the terrorist group's promises:
It's working, too: In two months of testing, over 300,000 people visited the anti-ISIS YouTube channels, and those who clicked on the campaigns spent even more time on the videos than people who casually browse YouTube. "These are people making decisions based on partial, bad information. We can affect the problem of foreign fighters joining the Islamic State by arming individuals with more and better information," said Yasmin Green, Jigsaw's head of research and development.
The next step will be launching the program to target North American extremists, Wired reports, specifically targeting potential ISIS recruits as well as white supremacists.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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