Knowledge Base

Online counterterrorism efforts can have significant implications for human rights. Tech platforms are often required, in an exercise familiar to public bodies, to strike a fine balance between the rights of certain users and the safety of other users and the wider public.

This toolkit aims to clarify how human rights are relevant to the online counterterrorism space, and what can be done in practices by tech companies to safeguard human rights.

We hope to communicate through this toolkit that the theory and practice of human rights can equip platforms with a means of navigating the intricate route to a free, flourishing and safe online space.

We aim to provide an introductory overview of the human rights most at risk when platforms engage in counter terrorism and violent extremism (CTVE), and of what can be done to help platforms mitigate these risks in order to develop and maintain CTVE practices capable of safeguarding those rights.

This toolkit is aimed at tech platforms and their partners in countering terrorism and violent extremism use of the internet.

The toolkit is divided into three sections to help you build a theoretical understanding of human rights and to develop a plan to integrate human rights into your platform’s online CTVE practices.

• Module 1 explains how tech platforms, as private bodies, may be required to observe human rights.
• Modules 2 and 3 establish policy best practices and practical steps for tech platforms to operationalise human rights safeguards

The annexes offer further resources from Tech Against Terrorism and recognised experts to enhance your platform’s learning on this topic.