Petraeus Says Efforts to Beat Extremists Online Are Lacking | Military.com: The U.S. isn't doing enough to stop the Islamic State group from using the internet to spread its propaganda and recruit new members, former CIA Director David Petraeus told lawmakers Wednesday.
Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee, Petraeus, a retired Army general, said so-called counter-messaging initiatives are inadequate and urged a greater collaboration with the private sector similar to the effort to block child pornography from being peddled online. He did not mention any specific programs.
The remarks from Petraeus came a day after The Associated Press published an investigation that found a counter-propaganda program aimed at thwarting the Islamic State group's use of social media for recruiting is plagued by incompetence, cronyism and skewed data.
The program, known as WebOps, is run by defense contractors at U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Florida.
