Report: Google Plus Has Become Ground Zero for ISIS Propaganda

Google Plus has reportedly become overrun with ISIS accounts, who are openly sharing Islamic extremist content and calling for violence on the platform.

According to the Hill, “dozens of pages across Google’s social media platform” post ISIS propaganda, “give news updates directly pulled from ISIS media, spread messages of hate towards Jews and other groups or show extremist imagery.”

Furthermore, the accounts “did little to hide their affiliation,” with many of the accounts openly declaring their support for ISIS and displaying pictures of the ISIS flag.

The Hill reported that some posts even directly called for violence, with one post calling on ISIS supporters to “Kill them where you find them.”

“A message to Muslims sitting in the West… Trust Allah, that each drop of bloodshed there relieves pressure on us here,” another post proclaimed.

In a statement, Google claimed to be cracking down on ISIS accounts, and pointed towards their content policies.

“Google rejects terrorism and has a strong track record of taking swift action against terrorist content. We have clear policies prohibiting terrorist recruitment and content intending to incite violence and we quickly remove content violating these policies when flagged by our users,” claimed a Google spokesman. “We also terminate accounts run by terrorist organizations or those that violate our policies… While we recognize we have more to do, we’re committed to getting this right.”

In 2016, a lawsuit filed by the families of three victims from the Pulse nightclub terrorist attack accused Google of allowing ISIS to “spread extremist propaganda, raise funds and attract new recruits,” while in 2015, Google were found to be providing services to pro-ISIS websites.