Terrorism and the Web
I spend a lot of my writing time cheering on the Internet, defending and promoting bloggers and the blogosphere, and generally expressing awe about the incredible online age we’re living in.
But there’s another side to it of course – better and easier and cheaper and more accessible communication and collaboration tools means that agendas of all kinds – good, bad, and evil – can be better and more efficiently executed.
News out of London over the weekend tells us that men linked to al Qaeda are using the web to promote the killing of non-Muslims. Pretty scary stuff in light of the very real world series of planned bombings throughout the United Kingdom that was uncovered in recent days.
It’s one of the biggest questions of our age, what can be done to combat extremist propaganda and prevent it from winning over those vulnerable to its sway. There’s no easy answer, of course, least of all coming from one person, and particularly when that one person is me!
I suspect that it can only be a fire-versus-fire kind of thing, but (mainly) of the non-militaristic kind. Better education, more communication, more outreach, more diplomacy, more multilateralism backed by competence and strength and wisdom.
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July 5th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
Eric, this could be a good launch point for a discussion of surveillance and how government security concerns (I’m thinking of the NSA’s arrangement with AT&T) comes up against issues of privacy and freedom online.
Personally, I’ve already felt the chill. When I was writing about a play I saw recently that addressed terrorism, I had second thoughts about having the words Al Qaeda appear on my site…
July 5th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
…and I’m afraid, Eric, with the odd slap to the face. The idea of the presence of force makes soft power all the more effective. It’s just the way it is - especially dealing with fanatics.
Sprague makes a good point and one that has fluttered around in my head too. It’s that “on second thought” mechanism that enters most of us who want to write about terrorism. We just don’t know who is reading. Another small way how freedom is on the run.
July 5th, 2007 at 11:25 pm
Sprague — Very much agreed, finding that balance between security measures and maintaining an open society is another key issue of our time and for the online world. And who knows what government(s) have keywords attuned to such things as “al qaeda” and what happens when those words are mentioned. Scary, indeed.
Allesandro — I think keeping on with the keeping on is the only way to deal with terrorism, maintaining as much of ourselves and our way of life as can be done. I’m thinking of the Brits during the second world war under Churchill’s leadership, and I’m also thinking of my pride in my fellow New Yorkers following 9/11.
July 5th, 2007 at 11:55 pm
Absolutely. You can’t sink with the malignants.However, and as you know, Churchill understood this all too well and he strove for that balance but he was not afraid to fight back either. You won’t win this thing without some force.
I may add that using force - if deemed necessary - against terrorism must be wise, selective and strategic too.
There is a skeptic/realpolitik side to me at times. ;
July 6th, 2007 at 1:42 am
Very wise, Alessandro!
April 17th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Blog Hopper…
Hi There. I’m blog hopping….