Israeli Foreign Ministry Launches Campaign to Combat Internet Incitement, Urges Google and YouTube to Join Battle
by David Daoud
The Israeli government has launched a campaign to combat Palestinian incitement on the Internet, Israeli news site nrg reported on Wednesday.
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely held a meeting on Monday with Google’s Senior Counsel for Public Policy Juniper Downs and YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki to persuade them to join the effort to combat the incitement, which Israel claims is largely responsible for the current wave of terrorism against Israelis.
During the meeting, Hotovely pointed to the use of social media by Palestinians calling on one another to explain the phenomenon of Palestinian youth taking to the the streets with knives in their hands and hate in their hearts.
The Google and YouTube executives informed Hotovely of the methods they had in place to monitor incendiary material, and agreed to enhance their cooperation with Israel’s Foreign Ministry to prevent the online distribution of material inciting to violence.