In mid-November, starting with the terrorist attack in Paris, it was understood that next-generation encryption and other security measures were going to take the spotlight in the media and behind the scenes at the highest levels of government around the world. Patently Apple covered the subject in a series of reports that week with one specific report titled "McCain, Feinstein & Head of Senate Intelligence Committee Calling for a Debate on Encrypted Networks." Before that debate even got tabled, President Obama earlier today announced that a new task force to counter online propaganda by Islamic State and other militant groups was being formed so as to crack down on the unprecedented use of the Internet by jihadists. Reuters noted in their report that the topic of encrypted electronic communications used by criminal and terrorism suspects was to be on the agenda in the hopes of finding a solution.

Reuters further noted that "As part of the anti-jihadi effort, senior national security officials began meeting on Friday with leading executives from U.S. technology companies, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, in California's Silicon Valley to discuss how to better thwart violent extremists' use of the Internet."

The newly created 'Countering Violent Extremism Task Force' will 'integrate and harmonize' government efforts to prevent violent extremism in the United States, White House national security spokesman Ned Price said.

Twitter, long maligned for being less cooperative than other companies such as Facebook, updated its policies last week to explicitly prohibit "hateful conduct." For more on this story, read the full Reuters report here.

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