The idea has come from Germany, which holds the rotating
presidency of the EU. It will organise co-operation on web
surveillance, while Europol will create a way for forces to
exchange the information gleaned from website monitoring.
"Terrorists use the internet to radicalise, recruit, and train
potential terrorists and to transfer information," said a draft
proposal on how co-operation will work. "So-called terror manuals
provide instructions on how to produce weapons, how to carry out
attacks, how to take hostages and how to build bombs, among other
things. In the face of the global availability of the internet,
this is especially worrying."
Justice and home affairs ministers will be asked to approve the
draft in June.
The plan involves paying particular attention to analysis of
material from as-Sahab, which is described in the draft as
al-Qaeda's media department. As-Sahab is behind many of the
statements from al-Qaeda leaders.
The co-operation is necessary because terrorist groups are
becoming increasingly adept at using new media technologies both
for communication and for propaganda, the draft said.
"The internet use plays a significant role in the logistic,
operational and communication network of terrorist organisations,"
it said. "Terrorists use the internet not only as a means to
communicate and spread propaganda, but also to radicalize, recruit
and train terrorists, to spread instructions on how to carry out
concrete offences and to transfer information, as well as for
terrorist financing purposes."
