It is unfortunate that American service men and women must limit their social media activity and presence lest they attract the attention of extremists seeking to commit acts of violence on American soil. It is particularly troubling that Americans are being instructed to limit their social media activity at a time when extremists, including ISIS supporters, are expanding their online recruitment and propaganda infrastructure at an unacceptably high rate.

Through a rigorous research and crowd-sourcing campaign called #CEPDigitalDisruption, the Counter Extremism Project has been systematically identifying and reporting violent extremists to Twitter. That's where the focus should remain, on stopping violent extremists. We must stand firm on our insistence that threats and violent rhetoric be eliminated from social media. By encouraging our men and women in uniform to censor themselves, we are in effect empowering the social media stalkers.

Despite multiple requests for meetings, Twitter has not shown a willingness to take an active role in this fight. We continue to demand a meeting with them to discuss ways to work together and stop the gross misuse of their platform.