By Maarten van Tartwijk
AMSTERDAM--European governments are calling on Internet and
social media companies to close the accounts of Islamist militants,
as part of a wider effort to contain the threat of European
extremists returning from Syria, Dutch officials said Monday.
Ivo Opstelten, the Dutch minister of security and justice, said
the companies must make greater efforts to ban Islamic militants
from using their platforms for recruitment and propaganda.
"Many companies might have [clauses against jihadist statements]
in their terms of service, but they don't act," he said in a letter
to lawmakers. "These companies must live up to their own rules on
postings and delete propaganda of violent jihadists," he said.
Government officials have approached companies like Facebook and
Twitter to discuss the issue, a spokesman for Mr. Opstelten said.
"We point the companies at their own terms of service. We cannot
force them, but we hope they will take action," he said.
Facebook, Twitter and Google weren't immediately available for
comment.
The talks are part of an existing effort of European authorities
to coordinate intelligence on, and surveillance of, about 2,000
European citizens who have traveled to Syria to fight alongside
rebels in their battle to unseat President Bashar al-Assad. Some
have returned to Europe in recent months and pose a threat to
security, according to national intelligence agencies.
Nine countries, including Germany, France, the U.K. and the
Netherlands, will discuss coordinated action in Milan on July 8.
The role of social media and the Internet will also be discussed
there.
The AIVD, the Dutch intelligence agency said on Monday that the
widespread use of social media, fueled by the rising popularity of
smartphones, has contributed to a revival of jihadism in the
Netherlands. It said 130 Dutch citizens have travelled to Syria to
join the fighting, 14 have been killed and 30 so far have returned
home.
The AIVD said it would be underestimating the power if social
media to see them as just new ways of spreading information. "The
impact of social media goes further: they have caused a significant
change in the nature of information and communication flows," the
agency said. The use of social media enables Islamist militants to
disseminate information quickly and widely, while making it more
difficult to identify their leaders by intelligence agencies, AIVD
said.
Facebook and Twitter have increasingly replaced jihadist web
forums that were popular in the past, the agency said.
"Radicalizing youth go to Facebook to search for like-minded
people, and then post jihadist material," it said. "In relative
openness, jihadists enter into discussions on Twitter."
Write to Maarten van Tartwijk at maarten.vantartwijk@wsj.com
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