A recent study issued by the European Center for Counter-Terrorism and Intelligence Studies confirmed that the European Union is witnessing a state of high alert with the continued threat from ISIS, Al-Qaeda and their affiliate groups, as well as the exploitation of Internet applications by extremist groups to spread ideas and infiltrate societies.
The study said that the European Union is preparing to confront new and emerging threats that depend on modern technologies, such as the malicious use of drones, artificial intelligence, chemical and biological materials, as well as radioactive materials and the dissemination of extremist ideologies through the use of online propaganda, with the use of social media in many Sometimes it becomes an integral part of the attack itself.
In the same context, another study issued by the Center spoke of the terrorist Brotherhood’s reliance on technological applications to spread extremist ideas, such as the Brotherhood’s “fatwa” application, as well as closed groups through the Telegram and Signal applications.
The security expert and head of the European Center for Counter-Terrorism and Intelligence Studies, Jassim Muhammad, believes that extremist groups have succeeded in using the Internet to obtain logistical support, such as buying weapons and equipment, and this was helped by the use of these groups’ servers and internet engines and anonymity applications such as the TOR application to access the dark web, And the dark web with the transfer of funds such as the cryptocurrency “Bitcoin”, what complicates the efforts of governments to fight extremism and combat terrorism, according to his study published under the title “Extremism via the Internet .. How to spread hate speech and extremism?”
In a statement to “Sky News Arabia”, Mohammed said that the European Union’s security strategy since 2020, has set 4 interrelated strategic priorities to address terrorism and extremism: a security environment, confronting evolving threats, protecting Europeans from terrorism and organized crime, and a strong European security ecosystem.
He explained that European countries have made great strides in confronting the rampant terrorism on the Internet by strengthening laws to combat dangerous content and address potential attacks, noting that what should be done is to closely monitor the implementation of policies and legislation regarding the deletion of terrorist content on the Internet, to avoid disproportionate use. charges of terrorism in cross-border contexts.
He noted that it would be beneficial to broaden the legal bases to combat hate speech and hate crimes, while supporting the protection of internal security, all relevant EU and national actors must work together to counter terrorist threats from domestic or foreign terrorists, acting alone or in a group Regardless of the existing ideology, they are pursued by terrorist means.
Mohamed stressed the importance of reaching a common understanding about the limits of freedom of expression and the legal responsibilities of online platforms and service providers, the agenda, and that EU member states continue to work in the long term to bring their criminal laws closer to hate speech.
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