EU interior ministers discuss on proposals to sanction or block Web sites
EU is moving to build online barriers to Internet sites spreading “terrorist propaganda” and bomb-making recipes. The governments are pressing for adopting strong security measures against terrorism or activities that aim at facilitating crime, while critics caution that some of the proposed measures could lead to censorship and privacy invasion.
In early November, EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini plans to submit to the Member States a package of proposals aimed at introducing new counterterrorist measures including technology to block “terrorist” Web sites and plans to incriminate online recruitment of terrorists. Mr. Frattini said that “they (terrorists) can find precise information and instructions for all kinds of terror attacks on the Internet, for instance how to make bombs.” In his EU counter-terrorism strategy Mr. Frattini stated that “these forms of behavior […]will be made punishable across the EU.” In the context of the European Parliament resolution on freedom of expression on the Internet, which provides that freedom of expression is a key value shared by all EU countries, Mr. Frattini asserted that his tactics “has nothing to do with freedom of expression.” The Commissioner said that he would clarify with the Internet Service Providers what technology could be employed to prevent people from “using or searching dangerous words like bomb, kill, genocide or terrorism." No details were released about how this proposal would technically work.
The critics underline that the EU politicians are unfamiliar with the Internet realities. The opponents emphasize that a technology savvy terrorist is most likely capable of finding the way around the proposed restrictions while the level of unreasonable violation of civil liberties would affect most of the Internet users. At the same time, Mr. Frattini’s team appeared to have no plans how to deal with bomb instructions sent via email, searched using circumvention tools, or sent by post.
Another controversial part of the planned package includes introducing a register of foreigners entering or leaving the EU by airplane. Mirroring the US example, the EU information authorities would collect information about passengers’ photograph, fingerprint, and retina scan. The Member States would share all collected data. In addition, Frattini´s proposal considers introducing an EU-wide data bank where the authorities across the union could share information on the theft of explosives. This, as argued, would help states to track terrorists faster and foil terrorist plans.
EU countries have already started developing their legal basis in a direction allowing governments to spread jurisdiction beyond their borders. In Germany, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble is seeking powers to spy virtually using emails that could infect recipients’ computers with spy software. German government seeks ways to be allowed to email Trojan horse spyware to terrorist suspects in order to monitor their Internet use and inspect their hard drives remotely. Minister Schäuble plans to include this authorization in a security law that is presently under deliberation of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government. The proposal was spurred by Germany’s Federal Court of Justice’s decision that rejected prosecutors’ attempts to search terrorist suspects’ hard drives through the Internet until there was a legal basis allowing this practice. Minister Schäuble provided that judicial approval would be required in most cases before undertaking the proposed measures. The government has not revealed other information about how the software would operate and what would be the isolated exceptions to judicial review they tend to include. The suggested measures have spurred an ongoing debate over the possible restriction of civil liberties.
Earlier this year, Swedish defense minister has also sought broad powers to monitor e-mail traffic without a court order. Sweden’s government proposed a plan that would authorize an executive agency to check out e-mail traffic and phone calls across country’s borders employing data mining software searching for sensitive keywords. Thus, some European governments are individually expanding their surveillance and wiretapping powers as part of their efforts to foil terrorist plans.
Additional concern to the critics to surveillance of electronic communication is the expected adoption on a national level of the Data Retention Directive. Member States are required to transpose the Directive into national law no later than September 2007. However, most of the states have exercised the option to postpone the application of the Directive to Internet access, Internet email, and Internet telephony until 2009. The Directive requires Internet Service Providers to keep information about communications of their users from six months to two years to aid in the identification of terrorist networks.
