The use of the Internet

4
THE USE OF THE INTERNET FOR TERRORIST PURPOSES
basic tenets of international law is the protection of fundamental human rights, which
include the right to freedom of expression (see discussion in section I.D below). This
guarantees an individual the right to share an opinion or distribute content which may
be considered objectionable by others, subject to certain limited exceptions. One commonly
accepted exclusion with respect to that right is the prohibition against the distribution
of certain categories of sexually explicit content, the prohibition of which is
deemed to be in the public interest in order to protect certain vulnerable groups. Other
exclusions, all of which must be provided for by law and shown to be necessary, may
include communications that are clearly detrimental to the protection of national security
and communications that are both intended and likely to incite acts of violence against
individuals or specific groups of individuals. 3
4. The promotion of violence is a common theme in terrorism-related propaganda.
The broad reach of content distributed via the Internet exponentially increases the
audience that may be affected. Further, the ability to directly distribute content via the
Internet diminishes the reliance on traditional channels of communication, such as news
services, which may take steps to independently evaluate the credibility of the information
provided or to edit or omit aspects deemed to be unduly provocative. Internet
propaganda may also include content such as video footage of violent acts of terrorism
or video games developed by terrorist organizations that simulate acts of terrorism and
encourage the user to engage in role-play, by acting the part of a virtual terrorist.
5. The promotion of extremist rhetoric encouraging violent acts is also a common
trend across the growing range of Internet-based platforms that host user-generated
content. Content that might formerly have been distributed to a relatively limited audience,
in person or via physical media such as compact discs (CDs) and digital video
discs (DVDs), has increasingly migrated to the Internet. Such content may be distributed
using a broad range of tools, such as dedicated websites, targeted virtual chat
rooms and forums, online magazines, social networking platforms such as Twitter and
Facebook, and popular video and file-sharing websites, such as YouTube and Rapidshare,
respectively. The use of indexing services such as Internet search engines also makes it
easier to identify and retrieve terrorism-related content.
6. The fundamental threat posed by terrorist propaganda relates to the manner in
which it is used and the intent with which it is disseminated. Terrorist propaganda distributed
via the Internet covers a range of objectives and audiences. It may be tailored,
inter alia, to potential or actual supporters or opponents of an organization or shared
extremist belief, to direct or indirect victims of acts of terrorism or to the international
community or a subset thereof. Propaganda aimed at potential or actual supporters may
be focused on recruitment, radicalization and incitement to terrorism, through messages
conveying pride, accomplishment and dedication to an extremist goal. It may also be
used to demonstrate the effective execution of terrorist attacks to those who have provided
financial support. Other objectives of terrorist propaganda may include the use of
psychological manipulation to undermine an individual’s belief in certain collective social
3 Ibid., art. 19, para. 3.