Governments urged to devise ways to prevent terrorists from exploiting Internet

MANILA, Philippines – Curtailing the influence of terrorists and violent extremist groups must not come at the expense of legitimate political discourse on the Internet or social media, according to a United Nations official.

Jeffrey Feltman, UN Undersecretary General for Political Affairs, said there is a need for governments to work with the private sector – without compromising human rights – in devising ways to prevent terrorists from exploiting the Internet.

“It is precisely exploitation by terrorists and violent extremists that can easily result in us restricting human rights and fundamental freedoms,” Feltman told a special meeting of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee.

He said ISIS – also called Daesh by the Arabs – has lured over 30,000 foreign terrorist fighters from over 100 countries to join the conflicts in Syria and Iraq or inciting individuals to commit terrorist acts in their home countries.

“We cannot allow the Internet to be abused to undermine the foundations of our societies. How do we make our preventive and counter-measures more effective without calling into question the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms,” Feltman said.

Coordination needed

He emphasized that where rights and freedoms are jeopardized or granted selectively, the potential for grievances grows and can in turn provide fertile ground for recruitment by terrorist and violent extremist groups.

The UN official said member-states should work closely with the private sector and civil society groups to prevent the exploitation of information communications technology resources while developing their own effective strategic communications tools to expose the hypocrisy of terrorists and other violent extremist groups.