The White House announced Friday afternoon that it is launching an inter-agency task force to counter the sharp growth in violent extremism in America, according to an announcement.
As senior members of the Obama administration’s national security team meet with technology leaders in Silicon Valley, the White House’s National Security Council announced that the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security would team up to launch a Countering Violent Extremism Task Force, according to the announcement.
The White House background document accompanying the announcement does contain any specific reference to the types of "violent extremism" the administration seeks to counter.
The State Department additionally is set to launch a Global Engagement center that will "to place an intensified focus on empowering and enabling the voices of international partners, governmental and non-governmental, and shift away from direct messaging," according to the White House.
Without mentioning Muslim terrorism by name, the White House said that these efforts are being taken in the wake of terrorist attacks in France and San Bernardino California.
The meetings with technology leaders in Silicon Valley are aimed at supplementing this effort, according to the White House.
The government and private sector partnership "will allow us to place an intensified focus on empowering and enabling the voices of international partners, governmental and non-governmental, and shift away from direct messaging," the White House said.
"Today’s developments reflect President Obama’s commitment to take every possible action to confront and interdict terrorist activities wherever they occur, including online," it added.
The announcement comes just a day after the Justice Department announced that it had busted a terror cell in the U.S. that was being operated by foreign refugees who had entered the U.S. legally.
In Philadelphia on Thursday, a police officer was violently attacked by an individual wearing Muslim garb. The assailant reportedly pledged his allegiance to ISIS.
The Free Beacon additionally disclosed on Friday that Congressional sources had recently discovered an additional 41 individuals who have been implicated in terrorist plots in the United States since 2014. This brings the total number of terrorists discovered since that time to 113, according to information provided by Congressional sources.