Legislation to address online radicalism passes out of committee

U.S. Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) said his bill to address terror threats posed by online radicalization has passed out of committee.

The Generative AI Terrorism Risk Assessment Act passed advanced out of the House Committee On Homeland Security. The legislation requires the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct annual assessments on terrorism threats to the U.S. posed by terrorist organizations like ISIS and al Qaeda using generative artificial intelligence applications.

“Earlier this year, the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence held a hearing to examine how foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) use generative AI or GenAI to recruit and radicalize lone wolf actors on the Internet,” Pfluger said. “The Subcommittee found that FTOs use GenAI for online radicalization by producing highly convincing propaganda videos to fabricate events and manipulate the perception of potential recruits. Known terrorist organizations such as ISIS and al-Qaeda have even gone as far as to have AI “workshops” to train members on its use.”

Pfluger said his legislation would provide flexibility for DHS to focus on the use of GenAI, including when it is incorporated into systems outside of applications like ChatGPT. The legislation would give DHS a year to develop and coordinate the report with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The extra time would give the department time to add resources and staff in order to fulfill the bill’s requirements, he said.