West-Friendly Islamic Groups Being Trained in SEO to Game Google for Greater Good   - 745 Views,

The British Office of Security and Counter-Terrorism (OSCT), has announced plans to provide pro-West Islamic groups with search engine optimization (SEO) training, to help them to acheive higher search engine rankings in Google search than their more radical and terror-focused counterparts.

The OSCT has said that it wants to “flood the Internet with positive interpretations of Islam” in an effort to reduce search traffic to extremist sites.

Explained a spokesperson, “In order to support mainstream voices, we work with local partners to help develop their communication, representational and leadership skills.” He added that “This support could include media training, which can help make their voices heard more widely, and support the development of skills which allow communities to be more effective in debate.”

However, a report by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) - a joint effort between Israeli, Jordanian, American and British universities - has indicated that Google and other online search engines are not how most young Muslims end up at extremist websites; rather they find them through online forums or, even, offline contacts.

The report observed that “Tweaking the results for supposedly extremist terms would be largely ineffectual, not least because it is unlikely that any but the most callow wannabe terrorist would use a mainstream search engine to find banned material.”