RIYADH: The British ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Neil Crompton, recently visited the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology, known as Etidal. During the visit, the British envoy and his accompanying delegation were briefed on the center’s strategies to counter extremist ideology and the techniques used in the process. The secretary-general of the center, Dr. Mansour Al-Shammari, presented Crompton with a souvenir. The ambassador praised the center’s work. In his comments on the center’s visitors’ book, he wrote: “Such an important job: winning the ideological battle against extremism. Good luck.” The center was established on three basic pillars: Confronting extremism by the latest intellectual, media, and numerical methods and means. The center uses different methods to counter extremist ideology such as software capable of monitoring, classifying, and analyzing any extremist content within just 6 seconds of its online broadcast and with more than 80 percent accuracy. It has a team of multidisciplinary researchers competent in using data analytical tools. It operates in the extremists’ most widely used languages and dialects. Advanced analytical models are being developed to locate digital media platforms, highlight the extremist focal point, and secret sources of polarization and acquiring activities. The center works to refute hate and extremist speech and promote concepts of moderation through the production of media content that confronts radical thoughts.