YouTube to combat Islamic State content by redirecting searches to videos debunking extremist ideology

In a bid to combat the problem of **ISIS** related extremist content available online, YouTube will redirect its users to a playlist of videos debunking ISIS ideology whenever the user searches for certain keywords related to the terrorist organization. Dubbed the ‘Redirect Method’, YouTube, in a  blogpost said that it intends to expand to languages beyond English, such as Arabic, soon. The Redirect Method uses AdWords, which is an ad targeting tool, to redirect potential jihadists and counter propaganda. It first tries to understand the audience base and then finds videos that debunk extremist ideologies. After this, whenever a potential militant uses AdWords, they get redirected to videos that debunk such ideologies. YouTube will also use machine learning to update itself with new terms used for search and query to find these radicalizing videos. Post the London terror attacks, Theresa May **reportedly** said on BBC, “We cannot allow this ideology the safe space it needs to breed, yet that is precisely what the internet and the big companies provide.” Lately, many social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Google have received flak for not removing extremist content, especially ISIS-related content, which presents a fertile ground to such organisations. Thereby, many such tech giants have come up with methods to mitigate the problem.