GIFCT is governed by an Operating Board made up of members from its founding companies: Meta (formerly Facebook), Microsoft, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube. GIFCT is advised by an Independent Advisory Committee made up of representatives from civil society, government, and intergovernmental organizations.
Independent Advisory Committee
The Independent Advisory Committee guides the Operating Board, including through an annual report advising on organizational priorities and reflecting on previous performance. Independent Advisory Committee meetings are held in conjunction with meetings of the Operating Board. The Independent Advisory Committee includes a minority of members from government and inter-governmental entities and a majority drawn from civil society understood broadly to include, among others, advocacy groups, human rights specialists, foundations, researchers and technical experts. All government representatives must represent governments that are members of the Freedom Online Coalition. The Independent Advisory Committee chair will always be a non-governmental representative. The Operating Board periodically reviews and updates the composition of the Independent Advisory Committee, with the intent of maintaining continuity of the group, encouraging diverse thinking and representing the global community.
View the GIFCT IAC Terms of Reference.
Independent Advisory Committee Members
IAC Governance
Ghayda Hassan (Université du Québec à Montréal), Chair
Jonathan Russell, Violence Prevention Network, Vice-Chair
Christy Grace Provines, Secretariat
Civil Society
Inclusive Aotearoa Collective Tāhono, Anjum Rahman
Individual Affiliation, Sasha Havlicek
Individual Affiliation, Elonnai Hickok
Individual Affiliation, Broderick McDonald
Individual Affiliation, Maya Mirchandani
Individual Affiliation, Courtney Radsch
Individual Affiliation, Eli Sugarman
The Khalifa Ihler Institute, Bjørn Ihler
Violence Prevention Network, Judy Korn
Academia
Edinburgh Law School, Dr. Gavin Sullivan
Université du Québec à Montréal, Ghayda Hassan
Government
Government of Australia, Department of Home Affairs
Government of Canada, Public Safety Canada
Government of France, Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs
Government of Japan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Government of New Zealand, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet
Government of the United Kingdom, Home Office
Government of the United States, National Security Council
Intergovernmental
European Union, Deputy Director General for Internal Security
United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate
Operating Board
The Operating Board provides GIFCT’s operational budget and ensures overall GIFCT operations align with its mission. The Operating Board is composed of GIFCT’s founding members; at least one rotating company from the broader membership cadre; new companies that meet leadership criteria, and the rotating chair of the Independent Advisory Committee, who participates as a non-voting member. The Operating Board chair rotates annually. For 2025, YouTube is chair.
Founding Companies
On June 26th, 2017, Meta (formerly Facebook), Microsoft, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter) announced the formation of GIFCT. The founding companies created GIFCT with the belief that by working together, sharing the best technological and operational elements of our individual efforts, they could have a greater impact on the threat of terrorist content online. Building on the work of initiatives such as the EU Internet Forum and the Shared Industry Hash Database, the companies identified three core areas of work: technological solutions, research, and knowledge-sharing.
