Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism

What Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism does

Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2017 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., with the mission of preventing terrorists and violent extremists from exploiting digital platforms. It is organized as a multistakeholder forum bringing together technology companies, governments, civil society, and academia, and operates under three strategic pillars: Prevent, Respond, and Adapt. Its core membership comprises over 35 technology companies—expanded from the four founding members Facebook (now Meta), Microsoft, YouTube, and Twitter (now X)—and it convenes annual summits, regional workshops, monthly member meetings, and working groups focused on AI, counter-financing, crisis response, and legal frameworks.

The organization's core technical asset is the Hash-Sharing Database (HSDB), a shared repository of digital fingerprints (hashes) of terrorist and violent extremist content that enables member platforms to identify and remove known material. The database has grown to over 320,000 visually distinct hashes and includes 49,000+ URLs, with taxonomy expanded beyond UN Security Council sanctions criteria to cover behavioral categories such as livestream footage from mass violent attacks, perpetrator-produced content, manifestos, and terrorist publications. Supporting products include the Incident Response Framework (with a Content Incident Protocol activated in approximately 24 hours during mass violent events), the Global Legislative Map tracking content regulation across 22 countries, the Global Definitions of Terrorism Map covering 82 definitions, and the Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET) academic research arm managed in partnership with the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King's College London.

GIFCT is governed by an Operating Board drawn from member companies and an Independent Advisory Committee (IAC) chaired by Jonathan Russell. Current Executive Director is Naureen Chowdhury Fink. Revenue is generated exclusively through membership contributions from technology companies; pricing is not publicly disclosed and the organization publishes no revenue figures in its transparency reports. The organization became an independent non-profit in 2020 (referred to as "GIFCT 2.0"), operates from a registered office at 4410 Massachusetts Avenue NW, #302, and employs between 11 and 50 staff. Distribution is gated by an application-based membership process, with services including the HSDB, incident response framework, working group participation, and access to research and resources.

Name

Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism

Legal name

Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism

Website

https://gifct.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that brings together 35+ technology companies, governments, civil society, and academia to prevent terrorist exploitation of digital platforms via shared hashing, incident response, and policy research.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Counter-Terrorism Technology Collaboration Services

NAICS

National Security and International Affairs (9281), National Security (928110)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Communications Services, Nec (4899)

akta.pro primary industry

IT Governance, Risk & Compliance (IT GRC) Platforms (HDAEALAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Email & Collaboration Threat Detection/Response (ICR/CTDR) (HDADAKAI), Disaster Response & Search and Rescue (SAR) (BPADADAA)

Keywords

• Counter-terrorism technology
• Hash-sharing database
• Content incident response
• Violent extremism prevention
• Cross-platform content moderation

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: GIFCT is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that operates through membership contributions from technology companies. The organization does not generate revenue through traditional product sales.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

GIFCT operates a multistakeholder membership forum that delivers collaborative counter-terrorism products and services to technology companies. Its core offerings include the Hash-Sharing Database for cross-platform identification of terrorist content, an Incident Response Framework with Content Incident Protocol for coordinating responses to mass violent events, working groups on technical and policy challenges, and global legislative and definitional mapping tools. The organization is supported by GNET, its academic research arm producing insights on terrorism and technology trends.

Product overview

GIFCT operates as a non-profit organization offering a suite of collaborative counter-terrorism technology products rather than a single product. The core offerings include the Hash-Sharing Database for cross-platform content identification, the Incident Response Framework for coordinating responses to terrorist events, and the GIFCT Working Groups for multi-stakeholder collaboration on technology challenges. Supporting products include the Global Legislative Map tracking content regulation across countries, the Global Definitions of Terrorism Map comparing international definitions, and GNET (Global Network on Extremism and Technology) providing academic research. The organization facilitates collaboration among tech companies, governments, civil society, and academia through its three strategic pillars: Prevent, Respond, and Adapt.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Content Incident Protocol activated and concluded within approximately 24 hours during mass violent events
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• TikTokcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 November 2025TikTok announced partnership with GIFCT including membership and new measures to combat hate speech and violent extremism. The platform is developing resources and technological improvements to better detect and remove extremist content, initially in Germany.
• Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGNET is GIFCT's academic research arm, established to bring forward actionable insights from experts and practitioners worldwide. GNET has produced 198 insights from 245 authors in 24 countries since July 2020.
• Tech Against TerrorismcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInitiative launched by UN Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) in 2017. Supports global technology sector in responding to terrorist use of the internet while respecting human rights. Partners on monthly e-learnings and regional workshops.
• BSR (Business for Social Responsibility)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNon-profit entity commissioned by GIFCT to conduct human rights impact assessment of the organization's strategy, governance, and operations. BSR provided 47 recommendations for rights-respecting approaches.
• International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBased at King's College London, ICSR leads Phase Two of GIFCT's academic research network, establishing GNET and bringing together international consortium of academic institutions from US, UK, Australia, Germany, and Singapore.
• Violence Prevention NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEurope's largest tertiary prevention practitioner organization in P/CVE, having supported over 3,000 terrorism-connected offenders through disengagement and rehabilitation programmes. Jonathan Russell serves as International Director.
• Violence Prevention Network (VPN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTikTok partnership includes collaboration with Violence Prevention Network as part of measures to combat violent extremism on the platform.
• Nordic Safe CitiesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGIFCT partnered with Nordic Safe Cities to co-host tech-focused sessions as part of multistakeholder engagement activities.
• Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGIFCT partnered with KAS on an AI report for countering violent non-state actors.
• JihadologyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGIFCT sponsored Tech Against Terrorism's work to update Jihadology website so that sensitive terrorist-related content is only accessible to registered academic, governmental, journalistic, or humanitarian users.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gifct
• Xx.com/GIFCT_official

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism