Microsoft-funded professor builds software to fight terrorism

New York

DARTMOUTH College computer science professor Hany Farid - using funding from Microsoft Corp - has developed technology to help scrub extremist content from the Internet.

Working with the non-profit think tank Counter Extremism Project (CEP), Prof Farid built software capable of identifying and tracking photo, video and audio files, even if they've been altered.

The software, unveiled on Friday, would allow websites such as Facebook Inc to automatically catch flagged content and remove it or prevent it from being uploaded.

On a call to discuss the technology, Prof Farid said his software would allow companies to automatically remove posts that violate the sites' terms of use.

He also said deleting the content is not a freedom of speech issue because the companies have the right to dictate what's suitable. "We allow them to do it fast, accurately, automatically…