Independent Advisers Quit En Masse From Meta-Led Anti-Terrorism Group

Six of the nine independent experts serving on the advisory committee of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) resigned on Monday. GIFCT is a consortium formed by several major US tech companies to prevent their platforms from being exploited by terrorist and violent extremist groups.

Tensions trace back to a July email from Meta vice president Nell McCarthy, who told the experts that while the consortium still valued their insight on violent trends, it no longer wanted their scrutiny of how effectively tech companies were curbing violence. Meta currently chairs GIFCT's operating board, giving it outsized influence over policy, though other member companies must still approve changes.

Under the proposed overhaul, new committee members would be selected by tech companies rather than elected by current members, as had been the practice. The committee would also be barred from evaluating the consortium's overall performance or issuing group recommendations. In their resignation letter, the departing experts said their objections to the plan had been ignored and that they had lost confidence in GIFCT's ability to fulfill its founding mission. A body that cannot scrutinize, take positions, or evaluate, they wrote, is not an advisory body at all but merely decoration.

Meta referred comment to GIFCT, whose spokesperson said the proposed changes were informed by several rounds of feedback, are not yet finalized, and stem from discussions on how to more effectively engage civil society and governments.

GIFCT has roughly 35 members, including Microsoft and YouTube, and maintains a small staff that alerts members to violent content and facilitates threat-intelligence sharing. A 2024 WIRED investigation had already found friction between the companies leading the consortium and its unpaid independent advisers, along with shortcomings in its content-takedown coordination system.

The departing experts warned that dismantling independent oversight comes at a time when AI-generated extremist content and new forms of online-facilitated violence are becoming more prevalent. Some sources spoke anonymously, citing fear of scrutiny from the US administration and congressional Republicans investigating alleged censorship by such groups. Last Friday, all 17 members of the panel sent a joint letter to McCarthy objecting to the plan before some ultimately resigned.