UK: Police recruiting internet café owners against terrorists
Police are recruiting internet café owners to spy on their customers as part of an anti-terrorism campaign.
Officers are training them in how to identify terror suspects downloading extremist material from the web so they can report them to police.
The voluntary scheme being trialled in Harrow, Camden and Westminster, London, aims to catch terrorists using the anonymity of public places to research and plan attacks.
Proprietors are also being urged to display posters and install screensavers on all computers warning customers that police will be called if they try to access suspect websites.
The move has been inspired by cases in which extremists have been snared after using internet cafés in terror plots.
Jailed airline bomb plotters Abdulla Ahmed Ali, Assad Sarwar and Tanvir Hussain were found to have carried out research and sent email to conspirators from internet cafés.
However, the initiative has been condemned by race relations campaigners, who claim it is a "another step in the direction of creating a society of total surveillance".
Arun Kundnani, of the Institute of Race Relations, said: "What is dangerous about this initiative is that it does not just focus on preventing access to illegal material but also material that is defined as 'extremist' without offering an objective definition of what that is.
"It thus potentially criminalises people for accessing material that is legal but which expresses religious and political opinions that police officers find unacceptable.
"It is likely to result in not only a general violation of privacy and freedom of expression but also discrimination against Muslims, whose use of the internet will be seen as inherently more suspicious."
(more)
Source: Daily Telegraph
Police are recruiting internet café owners to spy on their customers as part of an anti-terrorism campaign.
Officers are training them in how to identify terror suspects downloading extremist material from the web so they can report them to police.
The voluntary scheme being trialled in Harrow, Camden and Westminster, London, aims to catch terrorists using the anonymity of public places to research and plan attacks.
Proprietors are also being urged to display posters and install screensavers on all computers warning customers that police will be called if they try to access suspect websites.
The move has been inspired by cases in which extremists have been snared after using internet cafés in terror plots.
Jailed airline bomb plotters Abdulla Ahmed Ali, Assad Sarwar and Tanvir Hussain were found to have carried out research and sent email to conspirators from internet cafés.
However, the initiative has been condemned by race relations campaigners, who claim it is a "another step in the direction of creating a society of total surveillance".
Arun Kundnani, of the Institute of Race Relations, said: "What is dangerous about this initiative is that it does not just focus on preventing access to illegal material but also material that is defined as 'extremist' without offering an objective definition of what that is.
"It thus potentially criminalises people for accessing material that is legal but which expresses religious and political opinions that police officers find unacceptable.
"It is likely to result in not only a general violation of privacy and freedom of expression but also discrimination against Muslims, whose use of the internet will be seen as inherently more suspicious."
(more)
Source: Daily Telegraph
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