Facebook and Twitter credited with stopping terror in Brazil

They supplied info that led to the capture of 12 terrorists who were going to bomb the Rio Olympics

Facebook and Twitter have taken a lot of heat in recent months in regards to their response, or apparent lack thereof, against terrorism. There have even been lawsuits filed against both companies for not doing their part to crack down on hate groups, who use the sites to recruit people, and to plan attacks. 

Those charges seem to have been taken seriously by both companies as they have just been credited with using their resources to take down a potential terrorist plot against the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio.

In an interview on Sunday, a Brazilian Judge saud both companies offered up information, which was crucial in helping to take down the would-be attackers, according to a report out from Reuters. 

On Thursday, 10 Brazilians were arrested in connection with the plot, after police said that they pledged allegiance to ISIS. Another suspect was arrested on Friday, and a twelth man was arrested in connection to the plot on Sunday. 

"The companies began to provide data related to the content of the conversations and data about where those conversations were posted," a judge is quoted as telling weekly news program Fantastico, though he apparently did not get any more specific about what information was actually shared by either Facebook or Twitter,

VatorNews has reached out to both Facebook and Twitter for comment, and more information was provided to authorities. We will update this story if we learn more. 

Social media helping to take down terrorist is a nice change of pace from many of the headlines in recent months, which have seen numerous accusations that these networks were not going hard enough after ISIS, and other similar groups.

In January, Twitter faced a lawsuit from the family of a Florida defense contractor, who was killed in a terrorist attack in Jordan in November. The company was accused of having "knowingly permitted the terrorist group ISIS to use its social network as a tool for spreading extremist propaganda, raising funds and attracting new recruits."

Facebook, meanwhile, has been with two such suits. In June, the father of a woman killed in the terrorist attack in Paris in November of last year sued not only Facebook, but Google and Twitter as well, for alleging providing "material support" to ISIS.

Last month the company was hit with another suit, this time from relatives of victims of terrorist attacks in Israel, spanning over two years, who accused the company of allegedly allowing Palestinian terrorists to use the network to spread hate and violence without any repercussions

It's not just ordinary people who are asking the companies to task; even one of the leading candidates for President of the United States has specifically asked them to do more.

"The threat from radical jihadism has metastasized and become more complex and challenging. We are seeing the results of the radicalization, not just in far off lands, but right here at home, fueled by the Internet. It's the nexus of terrorism and technology," Hillary Clinton said in a speech earlier this year.

“They are using websites, social media, chat rooms and other platforms to celebrate beheadings, recruit future terrorists and call for attacks. We should work with host companies to shut them down,” Clinton said;

In response, both companies have attempted to take a stronger stand on the issue. Facebook launched a new anti-hate speech initiative in Europe, while also pledging over 1 million euros (or $1.09 million) to support non-governmental organizations in their efforts to rid its platform of racist and xenophobic posts.

Twitter, meanwhile, has updated its rules on hate speech, including adding this statement: "You may not make threats of violence or promote violence, including threatening or promoting terrorism."

More importantly, it also announced that it had suspended over 125,000 accounts for threatening or promoting terrorist acts, primarily related to ISIS.

(Image source: newsismoney.com)