Yesterday in Philadelphia, Officer Jesse Hartnett was shot multiple times while sitting in his squad car. The shooter pledged his allegiance to terrorist group ISIS. This news story, and several others over the last few months, reveal to us the times we’re living in. Silicon Valley promises to help.
The day of this attack, government counter-terrorism leaders and tech executives met behind closed doors. The main topic was combating terrorist organizations like ISIS and preventing events like what happened in Philadelphia. Companies represented included Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, You Tube, Yahoo and Pay Pal. Leaders of the FBI and NSA were there as well. One topic was to launch a social media campaign against ISIS. Both sides are exploring ways terrorists use and exploit the Internet for financial, recruiting and training purposes. For example, there’s a system on Facebook that deals with people who are suicidal. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg told government agents in attendance how those expressing suicidal thoughts could be flagged. Some officials wondered if this could be used to flag a potential terrorist on the verge of committing a suicide attack. This was just one of the many scenarios discussed. ?Despite disagreement over civil liberties and First Amendment rights, a lot of common ground was found.
I could’ve added to that. Another scenario is jihadist could recruit those who are on the brink of suicide. Note how these terror groups usually recruit those who have little or nothing to live for. But it’s about time Washington and Silicon Valley come together and put their differences aside to fight this common, deadly, sadistic enemy. I don’t know if you believe in omens or not, but I find it interesting this conference happened the same day this Philadelphia terror attack took place. Is fate trying to tell us something? If you were in that room with tech and government officials, what would you suggest to them?