Leadership Team

The United States has experienced mass shootings, domestic terrorism, and numerous arrests of suspected terrorists and their supporters in the past year. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg, as the sheer prevalence of extremist incitement and dangerous rhetoric may not be obvious to the average American citizen. Harmful speech and hostility is pervasive on nearly every social media platform, including deep web “community chat rooms” and “how-to” instructional videos on major websites.

With white nationalists, racists, and foreign terrorist organizations using these safe havens to spread poisonous misinformation and incite violence, the stakes are incredibly high, and urgent action is needed.

The mainstream media now regularly reports on dangerous antisemitic websites like “4Chan,” “Gab,” “8Chan,” and “The Base.” Terrorists, foreign and domestic, continue to hijack Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, and other major US and international social media platforms to promote their dangerous agendas. Americans are turning to Washington and corporate America for answers, but both have failed to take effective action.

Why aren’t major social media companies doing more to prevent their sites from being hijacked by extremists? Why aren’t Congress and the government demanding more verifiable accountability from Silicon Valley? Why aren’t corporate digital advertisers holding these companies responsible for enabling their ads to appear on the most virulent internet content? And how can we hold accountable the operational infrastructure of the “Dark Web” and “Deep Web” sites, which provide the pulpit for plotting and incitement? Let’s unite to demand answers and accountability! Together, our voices will be heard.

It’s time for action to prevent further violence and bigotry on our screens. That’s why CSW exists.