Dive Brief:
- The San Bernardino shootings last week revived a long-time debate about federal government digital surveillance efforts, Reuters reported.
- On Sunday, President Obama appealed to tech companies to “help address the threat of militant groups using social media and electronic communications to plan and promote violence.”
- The House Foreign Affairs Committee will consider legislation this week calling for more details from Obama on a strategy "to combat terrorist use of social media."
Dive Insight:
A senior official said the White House soon plans to talk to companies in the tech sector about developing a "clearer understanding of when we believe social media is being used actively and operationally to promote terrorism.”
"I will urge high-tech and law enforcement leaders to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice," Obama said is an address to try to reassure Americans nervous about possible future attacks.
Obama’s statement also reinvigorated debate over personal privacy online. Some have called for efforts that would weaken encryption to make it easier for the government to monitor communications. But technology companies and privacy advocates oppose that idea, warning that weaker encryption would expose data to hackers.
The White House says U.S. allies in Europe and elsewhere "want to make sure that encryption is not utilized in a way that allows for a space, a dark space, for terrorist groups to be plotting operations and attacks," the official said.