The internet is a very dangerous place, says Britain's Home Office. Radicals can get more radicalized there.
Sir Norman Bettison, the Association of Chief Police Officers' lead for Prevent, told us that "the internet does seem to feature in most, if not all, of the routes of radicalisation"...
According to the Home Office, the internet "plays a role in terms of sustaining and reinforcing terrorist ideological messages and enabling individuals to find and communicate with like-minded individuals and groups".
Why? The report's reason is very cyberpunk:
[The internet] was regarded as particularly dangerous as it was now one of the few unregulated spaces where radicalisation is able to take place.
There's an addition layer of as-yet-unradicalized Muslims, too:
concerns have been expressed about the impact of 'Sheikh Google' on individuals who may be vulnerable, but have not been identified as starting on a journey of self radicalisation.
Excellent phrase, Sheikh Google. Almost as good as e-qaeda.
Why does this matter? Because policy often follows panic. As Reason summarizes,
Keith Vaz, the chairman of the committee (who has a long history of censorship), argues:
More resources need to be directed to these threats and to preventing radicalisation through the internet and in private spaces. These are the fertile breeding grounds for terrorism.
Because of this, the Home Affairs Committee wants Internet service providers (ISPs) to actively monitor and remove "extremist" content and websites, even without a court order.
To be fair, that report cites "[m]any of our witnesses," allowing for an opposing view:
This seemed to be contradicted by more recent Home Office-commissioned research, which concluded that the internet "does not appear to play a significant role in Al Qa'ida-influenced radicalisation".
Over the past few months a coalition seems to be thickening: one party with security concerns and another focused on copyright. Let's see how this develops in 2012.
(via Reasonblog)
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