Hamas’s livestreaming of its massacre of Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, 2023, stands as the most effective hijacking of major social media platforms by a terrorist organization in history. What should have marked a turning point for safety-focused innovation instead became a case study in temporary fixes and sustained systemic failure.

Despite the rise of generative AI systems capable of transforming content moderation for the better, platforms have not meaningfully changed and neither have the incentives in the law to support a necessary reform. In fact, the current U.S. leadership is leading pressure in the opposite legislative direction, both domestically and abroad. As a result, in the two years since the Oct. 7 attacks, there has been a troubling normalization of hosting recorded terror, graphic violence, and open calls for further bloodshed.

The cycle is clear: terrorist acts are broadcast online, amplified through engagement algorithms, and then celebrated and repeated. This feedback loop, visible at scale during the Oct. 7 attacks, has only grown stronger. Most recently, it tore through the American public square with the digital streaming of Charlie Kirk’s violent assassination and the disturbing online glorification that followed.

AI systems that could break this cycle already exist. Yet instead of being deployed to protect against algorithmically reinforced violence, they remain sidelined while tech companies prioritize engagement metrics and geopolitical........

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