Moonshot (company)
{{Short description|Tech company}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Moonshot
| logo = Moonshot CVE Logo.png
| type = Startup
| foundation = {{start date and age|2015}}
| founders = Vidhya Ramalingam, Ross Frenett
| homepage = {{URL|http://moonshotteam.com/}}
}}
Moonshot is a tech startup founded in 2015.{{Cite web|title=A tech startup countering violent extremism: meet Moonshot CVE's founder, Vidhya Ramalingam|url=https://www.thelondonglobalist.org/a-tech-startup-countering-violent-extremism-meet-moonshot-cves-founder-vidhya-ramalingam-2/|date=2018-04-02|website=The London Globalist|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-05-01}} Originally established to understand and counter violent extremism,{{Cite web|title=If you Google 'how to join ISIS,' this startup will try to change your mind|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/google-backed-startup-uses-internet-ads-counter-online-extremism-n860961|website=NBC News|language=en|access-date=2020-05-01}} Moonshot works on a range of activities such as conspiracy theories,{{Cite web|title=YouTube Executives Ignored Warnings, Letting Toxic Videos Run Rampant|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-04-02/youtube-executives-ignored-warnings-letting-toxic-videos-run-rampant|last=|first=|date=|website=www.bloomberg.com|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-05-01}} gender based violence{{Cite web|title=Searches related to domestic violence spiked during both World Cup semi-finals|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/sport/2018/07/searches-related-domestic-violence-spiked-during-both-world-cup-semi-finals|website=www.newstatesman.com|language=en|access-date=2020-05-01}} and human trafficking. Based in London, the company maintains offices in Canada{{Cite news|title=Ottawa launches $1.5-million project that will use online ads to try to prevent radicalization|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-ottawa-launches-15-million-project-that-will-use-online-ads-to-try/|access-date=2020-05-01}} and Ireland and works in countries such as Libya,{{Cite web|title=Moonshot CVE leads British cyber psy ops against Islamic State|url=https://www.intelligenceonline.com/surveillance--interception/2017/02/22/moonshot-cve-leads-british-cyber-psy-ops-against-islamic-state,108212995-art|last=|first=|date=22 February 2017|website=Intelligence Online|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=1 May 2020}} New Zealand{{Cite web|title=Counterterrorism experts on why we must engage with online extremists|url=https://www.noted.co.nz/currently/currently-social-issues/online-extremism-counterterrorism-experts-on-why-we-must-engage|last=Noted|website=www.noted.co.nz|language=en|access-date=2020-05-01}} and Bangladesh.{{Cite web|title=Japan Helps Explore the Gender Dynamics of Violent Extremism|url=https://thediplomat.com/2018/03/japan-helps-explore-the-gender-dynamics-of-violent-extremism/|last=Hurst|first=Daniel|website=thediplomat.com|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-01}}
Activities
Moonshot builds technology to analyse audiences consuming extremist content,{{Cite web|title=A View from the CT Foxhole: Vidhya Ramalingam, Co-Founder, Moonshot CVE|url=https://ctc.usma.edu/view-ct-foxhole-vidhya-ramalingam-co-founder-moonshot-cve/|date=2019-05-29|website=Combating Terrorism Center at West Point|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-01}}{{Cite web|title=White supremacist web searches grow in pandemic, but groups try to counter the message|url=https://www.heraldmailmedia.com/news/nation/white-supremacist-web-searches-grow-in-pandemic-but-groups-try-to-counter-the-message/article_0b84f5b1-dcf7-58cf-856d-9f5b9fa13e88.html|last=Star (TNS)|first=Judy L. Thomas The Kansas City|website=Herald-Mail Media|language=en|access-date=2020-05-01}}{{Cite news|title=Dissident republicans operate 'broad, unsophisticated online networks'|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/dissident-republicans-operate-broad-unsophisticated-online-networks-1.3869607|last=Gallagher|first=Conor|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en|access-date=2020-05-01}} conspiracy theories{{Cite news|last=Quinn|first=Ben|date=2019-07-21|title=Anti-extremism software to be used to tackle vaccine disinformation|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jul/21/software-used-against-online-extremists-to-tackle-anti-vaxxers|access-date=2020-05-01|issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite web|title=Un rapport constate un déferlement de racisme anti-chinois sur les réseaux sociaux|url=https://www.conspiracywatch.info/un-rapport-constate-un-deferlement-de-racisme-anti-chinois-sur-les-reseaux-sociaux.html|date=2020-04-30|website=Conspiracy Watch {{!}} L'Observatoire du conspirationnisme|language=fr-FR|access-date=2020-05-01}} and disinformation.{{Cite web|title=Tackling Misinformation, Online and Off|url=https://www.globalhealthnow.org/2019-07/tackling-misinformation-online-and|website=Global Health NOW|language=en|access-date=2020-05-01}}
In addition to data analysis, Moonshot engages in campaigns to direct users attempting to access extremist material to alternative sources. Moonshot developed this method, known as the Redirect Method, in partnership with Jigsaw in 2016.{{Cite magazine|last=Greenberg|first=Andy|date=2016-09-07|title=Google's Clever Plan to Stop Aspiring ISIS Recruits|magazine=Wired|url=https://www.wired.com/2016/09/googles-clever-plan-stop-aspiring-isis-recruits/|access-date=2020-05-01|issn=1059-1028}}{{Cite web|title=The subtle way Google plans to use its greatest skill to combat ISIS|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/jigsaw-redirect-method-to-stop-isis-recruits-2016-9|last=D'Onfro|first=Jillian|website=Business Insider|access-date=2020-05-01}} Initially piloted against ISIS, this methodology has since been deployed against white supremacists {{Cite news|last=MacFarquhar|first=Neil|date=2019-12-30|title=White Extremism Faces a Subversive Foe Online: Google Ads|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/30/us/white-supremacy-moonshot-google-ads.html|access-date=2020-05-01|issn=0362-4331}} and disinformation.{{Cite web|title=Software Used To Stop ISIS And KKK To Be Used Against Anti-Vaxxers|url=https://www.unilad.co.uk/technology/software-used-to-stop-isis-and-kkk-to-be-used-against-anti-vaxxers/|website=www.unilad.co.uk|language=en|access-date=2020-05-01}}
Funding
Moonshot receives funding from technology companies such as Google and Facebook.{{Cite web|title=London-based high-tech company tackling online extremism|url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/1568411/business-economy|date=2019-10-13|website=Arab News|language=en|access-date=2020-05-01}} Moonshot also engages in paid work on behalf of governments such as the UK, Canada and Japan.
The company re-invests its profits back into research and development.{{Cite web|title=Moonshot CVE: The company using adverts to counter extremism|url=https://www.thenational.ae/world/europe/moonshot-cve-the-company-using-adverts-to-counter-extremism-1.879474|website=The National|language=en|access-date=2020-05-01}}