• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, February 10, 2016

Amid mounting concern about radicalization and recruitment of terrorists via social media, Congress is urging the White House to create a comprehensive strategy to combat terrorism on social media, and lawmakers are now preparing to pass a law requiring the administration to do so.

Today the U.S. Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will meet to consider a Senate bill to match a bill passed by the House of Representatives in December, ordering the executive branch to present a counter-terror strategy coordinating the efforts of the Department of Homeland Security, State Department, and FBI, among other agencies.

The bill will also require the White House to deliver an update on its social media counter-terror strategy within three months, as well as a report on how social media has served to facilitate radicalization and terrorist recruitment, and the resources and training available to investigators involved in counter-terror efforts on social media.

Lawmakers have taken up the issue with new urgency following the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, when a radicalized Muslim couple murdered 14 co-workers at a holiday party. The couple, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, had communicated using a private chat app and Malik posted a statement swearing allegiance to ISIS after the murders. It’s worth noting that, according to investigators, none of the communications before the attack were publicly visible.

Lawmakers are also urging the White House to implement screening of social media profiles as a regular part of vetting visa applicants. However the administration maintains that it has been monitoring social media to screen immigrants and combat terrorist recruitment for some time.

Recent counter-terror efforts have included partnership with the companies that operate social media platforms. Earlier this week, Twitter revealed that it has shut down over 100,000 accounts associated with ISIS as part of a larger strategy to deny the terror group access to social media for propaganda and recruitment purposes.