Six of nine independent experts on the advisory board of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) have resigned, according to a letter seen by WIRED. The consortium, chaired this year by Meta, coordinates content moderation efforts among major tech companies. The departing advisers said they had lost confidence in the group's ability to prevent terrorists from exploiting online services.
The resignations came after Meta vice president Nell McCarthy sent a July email proposing to 'refresh' the advisory committee. Under the plan, tech companies would choose new members instead of allowing existing members to elect them, and the committee would be barred from evaluating the consortium's performance or issuing joint recommendations. The departing experts said their appeals were ignored and that the changes would strip the advisory body of any meaningful oversight.
The GIFCT defended the proposed changes, saying they were informed by feedback and are not final. But the departures follow a 2024 WIRED investigation that found problems inside the group, including Meta delaying TikTok's membership bid and failures in its tip-sharing database. The resignations also come as platforms face growing challenges from AI-generated extremist content and newer forms of online radicalization.