As the war between Israel and Hamas enters its seventh week, and amid a sharp rise in hate crimes across New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday laid out a plan to combat online extremism.
“I wish I could tell you these concerns are misplaced. But tragically the data all across America is showing that hate crimes have surged in the last six weeks,” she said.
The plan, which Hochul called “comprehensive” and “far-reaching,” has four pillars to it: strengthening physical locations, identifying credible online threats, calling out social media companies that fail to maintain safe environments, and creating resources for parents and school officials in New York.
What You Need To Know
- Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday laid out a plan to combat online extremism amid a sharp rise in hate crimes across New York
- The plan has four pillars to it: strengthening physical locations, identifying credible online threats, calling out social media companies that fail to maintain safe environments, and creating resources for parents and school officials in New York
- Hochul plans to utilize the state’s Threat Assessment and Management teams to monitor and pinpoint extremism online more efficiently
In order to more efficiently monitor and pinpoint extremism online, Hochul plans to utilize the state’s Threat Assessment and Management teams.
The Threat Assessment and Management initiative was created in the immediate aftermath of the Buffalo massacre just over a year and a half ago, where 10 people, all African-American, were murdered by a white supremacist.
The group will see an additional $3 million in funding so that every college campus “now has these in the state of New York,” Hochul said.
According to the governor, their goal is “to find out what’s driving hateful behavior and intervene early before harm is done, and to give people who are being radicalized online an off-ramp.”
Hochul emphasized that the groups are only interested in identifying violent threats, and that they are not “here to penalize anyone for their political views.”
“We cannot keep reacting to crime, violence and hatred. They are inevitable. Therefore we must prevent them with sound policies and adequate resources,” Sheikh Musa Drammeh of the Masjid Al-Imam Mosque said.
Tuesday’s announcement comes one week after Hochul directed $2.5 million in funds to bolster the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force with 10 additional state police officers in order to combat hate crimes across the state.
And a week before that, Hochul mobilized state police to protest at-risk sites, including houses of worship and community centers, and made $50 million available to local law enforcement to prevent and solve hate crimes.
On Tuesday, Hochul also criticized TikTok, the giant social media platform which last week saw a controversial video of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden apparently go viral.
“I think that people are now, in those companies realizing the power that they have that they’ve unleashed if they don’t start pulling it back,” she said. “They say they’re monitoring for hate speech. And we would say I’ve had instances where you are not being successful.”
Officials from the company have since said they have been “proactively and aggressively” removing content associated with the video, in which the former al-Qaida leader attacked America’s support of Israel and accused it of playing a role in the harming of Palestinians.
Nevertheless, the governor said she would be releasing a letter later today calling on the largest social media companies to increase oversight, employ larger moderation teams and operate with greater transparency.
“They need better oversight, they need larger moderation teams, and greater transparency,” Hochul said.
Hochul acknowledges it’s a tall order, especially as Congress has struggled to steer and in some cases reign in the influence of these companies.