Microsoft Tweaks Policies for Terrorism Content on its Services

It can be tricky for some of the big names in the technology industry to deal with content on their networks. It's not always as black-and-white as a "that should definitely not be on our site, you're banned" kind of an issue. It's especially thorny when the content concerns national security—specifically, content that could be seen as advocating, encouraging, or otherwise planning terrorism.

And the use of the "t" word does tend to get technology companies embroiled in arguments with various governments, as the latter tends to be more interested in knowing about terrorism-related tie-ins. As we've seen this year, that also includes physical devices (smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc.) that people could be using to promote terrorism in some capacity. (Technology companies don't tend to like handing over digital keys that let the government into any devices they want.)

In an effort to get ahead of the curve, Microsoft has released a new set of guidelines and policies for how the company treats terrorism-related content on any of its properties.

"We believe it's important that we ground our approach to this critical issue in central principles and values. We have a responsibility to run our various Internet services so that they are a tool to empower people, not to contribute, however indirectly, to terrible acts. We also have a responsibility to run our services in a way that respects timeless values such as privacy, freedom of expression and the right to access information. We've therefore carefully considered how to address terrorist content that may appear on our services without sacrificing the fundamental rights we all hold dear," reads Microsoft's blog post.

Specific changes include Microsoft amending its terms of use to explicitly prohibit terrorist content on any of its consumer services. And Microsoft now has a new online reporting tool that anyone can use to report any of this kind of content directly to Microsoft. If Microsoft considers it problematic, the content will go through the company's "notice-and-takedown" process.

As for what, specifically, "terrorist content" even is:

"For purposes of our services, we will consider terrorist content to be material posted by or in support of organizations included on the Consolidated United Nations Security Council Sanctions List that depicts graphic violence, encourages violent action, endorses a terrorist organization or its acts, or encourages people to join such groups. The U.N. Sanctions List includes a list of groups that the U.N. Security Council considers to be terrorist organizations," Microsoft describes.

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Microsoft also indicated that is currently working to partner with other nongovernmental organizations to help fill its Bing search results with more positive messaging and links to other resources for those searching for what Microsoft considers terrorist material. The company doesn't plan to remove links on its Bing search results—whatever they may be—unless required by law.

"Terrorism is one of the truly urgent issues of our time. We are committed to doing our part to help address the use of technology to promote it or to recruit to its causes. As we look at additional measures we can take, our actions will always be consistent with the rule of law and with our belief in our users' rights to privacy, freedom of expression and access to information. We will continue to work closely and transparently with a wide range of organizations to build on and strengthen these efforts, and we look forward to joining additional initiatives that involve organizations from both the public and private sectors in the coming months," reads Microsoft's blog post.