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Dr Anthony Bergin
The internet as a platform for radicalisation
Increasingly, extremists are using the Internet to communicate, spread information and network. Although only a few individuals have been convinced to carry out terrorist operations simply by reading material online, this is changing. The internet is playing a significant conveyor-belt role in the transition of people from curiosity to seeking a cause to violence. As law enforcement agencies monitor the physical spaces, making it harder for extremist groups to operate in the open, some of these groups are turning to cyberspace. |
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Mr Michael Crowley
Legal and policy issues in combating online radicalisation
Any policy aimed at combating internet-based radicalisation by legislation is doomed to fail due to the nature of the internet and human ingenuity. Sometimes a legal solution is not the best or only solution to a policy issue. Blocking access to radical websites raises the spectre of ‘political control’, while monitoring the same websites to identify users is technically difficult unless the authorities have a target. A global approach would directly impinge upon traditional rights and freedoms, not to mention privacy laws. A worst-case scenario may reflect George Orwell’s 1984 or resemble controls and restrictions in single party and totalitarian regimes. Nevertheless, when a government blocks websites and monitors access without reasonable suspicion of criminal activity it is threatening the foundations of our democracy in achieving the aims of the website promoters. |
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Mr Richard Bone
Industry role in counter-radicalisation
The internet industry is multi-faceted. In particular there are two main types of participants—Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and hosts. ISPs provide a conduit that connects consumers to hosts and to each other. Their goal is to deliver an internet connection at the lowest possible cost with highest possible speed. The focus of an ISP is often highly technical, making use of routing and caching technologies to improve customer experience and reduce costs. With regard to radicalisation content, an ISP is often not aware of the content being delivered to subscribers and may not even be able to view it as a result of it being encrypted. An ISP will lose money on customers that: require support frequently, draw data volumes at a level that is near to their ‘cap’, and are in new areas where the ISP has made capital expenditure on equipment that does not yet return enough income to justify the cost. ISPs make money from established customers that operate well within their limits and do not draw on support resources. It is a business of averages and long-term relationships. |
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Dr Anne Aly
Online radicalisation and the Muslim diaspora
In 2005 and 2006 I conducted research into how Australian Muslims were responding to the discourse on terrorism in the Australian popular media. Even then, it was increasingly evident that Australian Muslims were turning to the internet to access information about the United States-led interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, and engaging heavily in propaganda and conspiracy theories—readily accessible to large audiences through the internet. It is not until recently, however, that attention has focused on the role of the internet in the process of radicalising individuals and groups in support of violent action. As Anthony Bergin has rightly pointed out, the internet is increasingly becoming a platform for radicalisation. |
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Mr David Cake
Upholding the principle of free speech
Electronic Frontiers Australia is a membership-based lobby group focused on civil liberties in the online world, and as such it should come as no surprise that a group focused on free speech concerns would argue that free speech concerns should strongly inform any strategy for countering online radicalisation. We believe, however, that this is true not only because of the importance of free speech as a democratic principle, but also because a relatively open approach that respects the right to free speech is by far the most effective and practical basis for a strategy to effectively counter radicalisation. |
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Mr Raspal Khosa
Concluding remarks
The internet is a powerful tool for extremists to radicalise vulnerable individuals and potentially recruit them to violence. The subterranean character and cross-jurisdictional nature of the online environment is challenging for national authorities attempting to counter the insidious threat of radicalisation. Indeed, as Michael Crowley argues, any attempts by government to block radical websites through legislative means may be counter-productive and ultimately corrosive of democracy. |
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