Telephone and mail communications can be easily monitored but with the high-level encryption available on the internet, that is not as easily feasible. ISIS uses the internet to pass messages and propaganda.
“We’re losing a lot of people because of the Internet. We have to see Bill Gates and a lot of different people that really understand what’s happening. We have to talk to them about, maybe in certain areas, closing that Internet up in some ways. Somebody will say, ‘Oh freedom of speech, freedom of speech.’ These are foolish people.”
— Donald Trump, the same day in which he also called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States.
It’s easy to make fun of Trump’s name-dropping of Gates as the possible possessor of a magical switch to turn off the Internet. But his political foes are expressing somewhat similar sentiments about Internet limits.
As I wrote yesterday, President Obama and Hillary Clinton are also talking tech and possible censorship as they discuss dealing with extremist threats in the wake of the San Bernardino shootings, which the FBI is investigating as terrorism. Extremist groups such as the Islamic State use the Internet and social media to communicate and recruit.
Clinton also referred to freedom of speech when she called for “disrupting ISIS” over the weekend: “This is complicated, you’re gonna hear all of the usual complaints, you know, freedom of speech, etc.”
Previous politicians’ attempts to deal with terrorist threats online include proposed legislation to require companies such as Facebook and Twitter to report suspected terrorist activity. Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., is reportedly expected to reintroduce such a bill soon.
Meanwhile, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt wrote for the New York Times what he thinks the tech industry should do:
We should build tools to help de-escalate tensions on social media — sort of like spell-checkers, but for hate and harassment. We should target social accounts for terrorist groups like the Islamic State, and remove videos before they spread, or help those countering terrorist messages to find their voice. Without this type of leadership from government, from citizens, from tech companies, the Internet could become a vehicle for further disaggregation of poorly built societies, and the empowerment of the wrong people, and the wrong voices.
As for who would determine who the wrong people and the wrong voices are, that’s for another post.
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“We’re losing a lot of people because of the Internet. We have to see Bill Gates and a lot of different people that really understand what’s happening. We have to talk to them about, maybe in certain areas, closing that Internet up in some ways. Somebody will say, ‘Oh freedom of speech, freedom of speech.’ These are foolish people.”
— Donald Trump, the same day in which he also called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States.
It’s easy to make fun of Trump’s name-dropping of Gates as the possible possessor of a magical switch to turn off the Internet. But his political foes are expressing somewhat similar sentiments about Internet limits.
As I wrote yesterday, President Obama and Hillary Clinton are also talking tech and possible censorship as they discuss dealing with extremist threats in the wake of the San Bernardino shootings, which the FBI is investigating as terrorism. Extremist groups such as the Islamic State use the Internet and social media to communicate and recruit.
Clinton also referred to freedom of speech when she called for “disrupting ISIS” over the weekend: “This is complicated, you’re gonna hear all of the usual complaints, you know, freedom of speech, etc.”
Previous politicians’ attempts to deal with terrorist threats online include proposed legislation to require companies such as Facebook and Twitter to report suspected terrorist activity. Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., is reportedly expected to reintroduce such a bill soon.
Meanwhile, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt wrote for the New York Times what he thinks the tech industry should do:
We should build tools to help de-escalate tensions on social media — sort of like spell-checkers, but for hate and harassment. We should target social accounts for terrorist groups like the Islamic State, and remove videos before they spread, or help those countering terrorist messages to find their voice. Without this type of leadership from government, from citizens, from tech companies, the Internet could become a vehicle for further disaggregation of poorly built societies, and the empowerment of the wrong people, and the wrong voices.
As for who would determine who the wrong people and the wrong voices are, that’s for another post.
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