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Digital extremism threat to be addressed at EU dinner attended by Google, Twitter and Facebook

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

October 8, 2014 | 2 min read

Tech firms such as Google, Twitter, Microsoft and Facebook will meet with EU officials on Wednesday evening to discuss how to curb the digital presence of extremist groups such as Isis, according to the BBC.

Journalist James Foley

The private dinner, hosted in Luxembourg, will see the heads of major tech firms discuss how to combat the rising tide of social media recruitment drives by militia with officials from the EU’s 28 member states and individuals from the European Commission.

They will focus on the best ways to curtail the use of online tools to spread propaganda. The balance between online privacy and security will also be addressed.

The European Commission said: "There is strong interest from the European Union and the ministers of interior to enhance the dialogue with major companies from the internet industry on issues of mutual concerns related to online radicalisation."

With an estimated 500 UK citizens fighting for militia in Syria and Iraq, governments have focused considerable resources on the closure of recruitment sites following the execution of James Foley.

As a result, groups such as Isis have been removed from prominent social networks such as Facebook,Twitter and even Instagram.

This crackdown has saw recruitment efforts dispersed to more obscure networks such as open-sourced Diaspora, a site with less account flagging capabilities.

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