Government should take fight against ideological extremism online, House committee report says

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Canada should put in place a strategy to fight ideologically-motivated violent extremism that includes tackling the spread of such movements on the internet, a House of Commons committee says.

MPs on the public safety and national security committee issued dozens of recommendations for how Canada can combat the spread of ideologically-motivated violent extremism (IMVE) on Monday, following a study on the topic.

That includes targeting digital platforms, online bots, algorithms, crowdfunding and cryptocurrency, in addition to offline measures like increased funding for security of communities at risk and for front-line community organizations.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) considers IMVE to have four sub-categories—“xenophobic, gender-driven, anti-authority and other personal grievance-driven violence,” the report outlines. IMVE is a separate category from religiously-motivated and politically-motivated violent extremism, and according to a witness from Public Safety Canada was meant to eliminate terms like “far right.”

The term is “agnostic to race, religion and ideology,” the report outlined.

It said the narratives that are used to draw individuals in and radicalize them include “anti-authority; Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and other forms of religious intolerance; racism; misogyny; and anti-LGBTQ2SI.” Those narratives aren’t static, with groups benefiting from fear and uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic.

“IMVE influencers have connected concerns over public health measures to the movement’s broader corpus of conspiracy theories,” the report outlines, while social media has enabled the spread of IMVE messaging.

“Digital social networks and alternative media are like particle accelerators for extremism,” David Morin, UNESCO chair in prevention of radicalization and violent extremism at the University of Sherbrooke, told the committee.

Many of the committee’s 33 recommendations to government focus on that online sphere.

That includes suggesting the government look into how feasible it is to put together a “regulatory structure to hold platforms accountable for enforcing their terms of service.” It would include metrics that show standards are being enforced and could include the creation of a Digital Safety Commissioner, something the Liberal government has already said it plans to do as part of its online harms framework, which it’s currently in the process of re-working.

The report said Canada should look to jurisdictions like the U.K. and Australia – both of which have legislation targeting online harms—and then “implement a made-in-Canada solution to better tackle IMVE and the spread of online hate.”

The committee also took aim at online bots, saying the government should “work with domestic and international partners to identify and remove online bots amplifying extremist content.” It should also encourage platforms to put in place “contributor and content authentication mechanisms” that would allow users to filter content.

It should also take a look at algorithms, with the report recommending the government collaborate with platforms “to encourage algorithmic transparency and reduce online use by terrorist entities by identifying terminology and phraseology for better content moderation decisions.”

Digital social networks and alternative media are like particle accelerators for extremism

The government should also “conduct research on the role that crowdfunding, and cryptocurrency play in financing IMVE,” it said. The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) should also have the “resources and powers necessary to monitor suspicious transactions made through crowdfunding and cryptocurrency platforms,” the committee said.

The MPs recommended the government “acknowledge and protect” the threat violent extremism poses to Canada’s critical infrastructure. The Liberals introduced a bill last week that aims to boost critical infrastructure cybersecurity.

The report called for funding digital literacy programs that would “build Canadian’s critical and civic media consumption skills across the entire population, including how to identify conspiracy theories, disinformation and misinformation online.”

The government should also work to “identify gaps in existing law and law enforcement regarding harmful online content, while upholding Charter rights,” the report said.

It should ensure police of jurisdiction have training that includes online hate and develop legislation whose aims include funding and modernizing the “authorities of Canada’s security intelligence community with emphasis on the changing nature of technology and the role played by social media platforms in the evolution of violent extremism in Canada.”

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