EU To Model New Security Force On British Counter-Terrorism Unit

The EU is considering plans to create a brand new security unit designed to tackle the growing menace of cyber terrorism and extremist online content.

The new unit is reportedly to be called the Internet Referral Unit and will draw on experts and resources from across the continent. Its mission is to remove jihadist content from the Internet, and it would operate as part of Europol.

Online Radicalisation

European ministers are said to be currently considering the proposal for the Internet Referral Unit, which first appeared following the Charlie Hebdo terror attacks in Paris that resulted in the murders of over a dozen people.

“[The Paris attacks] have added… urgency to countering the extremism problem. Dealing with material online is the first item on the agenda,” the Financial Times, quoted Gilles de Kerchove – the EU’s counter-terrorism chief – as saying.

What is clear is that the move is recognition by the European authorities about the sheer volume of Islamist terrorist material found online, and the radicalisation threat it presents.

“The internet is a major facilitator for radicalisation to terrorism. Addressing this matter poses a number of different challenges,” the BBC quoted a briefing document as saying. “The sheer volume of internet content promoting terrorism and extremism requires pooling of resources and a close cooperation with the industry.”

The plan is to create the unit as soon as June 1 this year. Funding would be provided by member states, and the new EU unit will reportedly by modelled on the British Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU).

The CTIRU was created in 2010 by the UK’s Home Office and Scotland Yard to prevent the spread of extremist content online. The CTIRU has enjoyed some success over the years in removing material from the Internet (presumably from UK-based servers).

By mid 2011 it had removed material 156 times within a 15 month period. A more recent list of its takedown numbers can be found here.

Unprepared Nations?

Earlier this month Twitter revealed it was working with law enforcement agencies to investigate alleged death threats against co-founder Jack Dorsey and others by supporters of Islamic State. The threats were in response to Twitter’s closure of numerous IS-related accounts, following a company policy that bans “direct, specific threats of violence against others”.

Last month, Eugene Kaspersky, founder of the eponymous security company, claimed that many world governments are not capable of stopping potentially catastrophic cyber-terrorist attacks.

“States are scared,” Kaspersky told The Times. “They’re absolutely not yet ready for this challenge. They understand the problem, and it’s huge. But they don’t yet have the strategy in place.

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