Peer calls for greater self-policing from ISPs

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Carlile was appointed to the role of independent reviewer of terrorism legislation on September 11 2001 – hours before the US attacks – and stepped down last year.

He also led a review of the controversial Prevent strategy, developed to tackle home grown terrorists in the wake of 7/7.

Now Lord Carlile has told the Yorkshire Post he believes the “dark side of the internet is still very worrying” in terms of its use by terrorist groups and has called on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) such as Google and Internet Explorer to do more to monitor their own sites.

“A lot of work is being done by the Government and counter radicalisation teams and also some work is being done to create alternative sites,” he said.

“There are certainly sites that target young British men with the aim of encouraging them to go to training camps in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Africa.

“It is extremely difficult for the Government, even if it has 
limitless resources, to keep on this.

“Policing them is certainly very difficult because these sites can be based anywhere in the world.

“It is very difficult to have internet sites taken down.

“I would like to see ISPs do some individual policing of their own sites, not censorship, just monitoring.”

Lord Carlile said he was aware of far right groups using the internet to recruit across Yorkshire, but said he believed Islamic extremists pose significantly more of a threat.

“The far right is certainly a presence and we should do our best to monitor them; however, the scale is quite different.

“What they are preaching is abhorrent, but represents nothing like the danger.”