Trust in Tech, Episode 10: Counter-terrorism on Tech Platforms w/ GIFCT Director of Technology Tom Thorley

Welcome to the Trust in Tech podcast, a project by the Integrity Institute — a community driven think tank which advances the theory and practice of protecting the social internet, powered by our community of integrity professionals.

In this episode, Institute member Talha Baig is in conversation with Tom Thorley of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT). The Forum was established to foster technical collaboration among member companies, advance relevant research, and share knowledge with smaller platforms. 

Tom Thorley is the Director of Technology at GIFCT and delivers cross-platform technical solutions for GIFCT members. He worked for over a decade at the British government’s signals intelligence agency, GCHQ, where Tom specialized in issues at the nexus of technology and human behavior. As a passionate advocate for responsible technology, Tom is a member of the board of the SF Bay Area Internet Society Chapter; is a mentor with All Tech Is Human and Coding It Forward; and also volunteers with America On Tech and DataKind.

Tom and Talha discuss the historical context behind founding GIFCT, the difficulties of cross-platform content moderation, and fighting terrorism over encrypted networks while maintaining human rights.

As a reminder, the views stated in this episode are not affiliated with any organization and only represent the views of the individuals. We hope you enjoy the show.

Credits:

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Today’s episode was produced by Talha Baig 

Music by Zhao Shen

Special thanks to Sahar, Cass, Rachel and Sean for their continued support