The European Commission has proposed to the 27 Member States to reform current EU anti-terrorist legislation. The objective is to penalize the use of the network as a vehicle for terrorist incitement and propaganda, as well as for the recruitment and training of followers of malicious activities.
Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini pointed out that the operations of terrorist groups began to use the Internet «to mobilize local individuals and groups in Europe» which and the network ends up also serving as an information aid for «objectives and methods terrorists «.
Examples of these practices are the pages online that teach internet users how to build explosives or promote violence against religions or cultures.
The plan proposed by Frattini foresees that States collaborate in closing sites in cases where links to terrorist networks are detected. The commissioner says that there will be no penalties for servers or Internet operators that do not block the content before a court order is issued.
Franco Frattini says that these measures will not affect the freedom of expression of Internet users and proposed that exceptions be made for sites dedicated to scientific, academic and journalistic areas – where technical procedures for dismantling bombs, explosive manufacturing processes are often explained, among others.
At the same time, the commissioner said that it will be necessary to adopt new strategies in other areas, for example, in the aviation sector. Here, the official believes that it will be necessary to strengthen the fight against terrorism in Europe by storing personal data of air passengers, as in the United States.
The aim would be for each state to collect and store personal passenger data in a decentralized manner.
If the measures are approved, they will come into force in 2010 and will not include data such as people’s nationality or religion, but rather the seats on the plane, the payment method and where the ticket was purchased. This information would be kept for five years and would remain in a latent state for another eight years.
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