Social media giant Twitter has banned 1.5 million accounts linked to terrorists since 2015, its senior director of public policy in Asia-Pacific Kathleen Reen said yesterday. Similarly, Facebook’s cyber security policy lead Saleela Khanum Salahuddin said its response to information or influence operations improves each time it disrupts an instance of foreign interference.

Its success makes it harder for the operatives to engage in the same tactics of foreign influence, she added.

But both were quick to add that they cannot combat digital threats and misinformation alone.

They were part of a four-person panel speaking about defending the online space from foreign interference at a conference organised by the Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.