Terrorism Bill

: The purpose of any terrorist attack is to seek attention and create a sense of anxiety and panic among the public, and to provoke an over-reaction by the authorities. My concern about much of this Bill is that it is an over-reaction by the authorities, and that allows the terrorists to win a long time after the actual terrorist attack has come and gone. I am pleased that we are starting to focus attention on the use of the internet. I am sure that the House will agree that the internet has played a pivotal role in the communication and planning of all the international terrorist attacks that have taken place. However, the examples mentioned in this debate show how much could have been achieved if we had focused more on the internet. In fact, what has been left out is of more concern. We have talked about the role of the police and about the fact that we should start to police the internet in the UK, but we have not really discussed what happens to material in another language or the consequences when organisations using the internet as a means of communication shift their activities abroad. As I said earlier, a united effort is required and it would be nice to see examples of what is happening on the international platform to combat the use of the internet in terrorist incidents. Earlier, I mentioned ICANN, which is based in California and is the core for all internet service providers. It has the technical power, although not yet the ability, to put limits on internet service providers throughout the entire world. It does not yet happen, because the internet has advanced at such a pace that nobody has been able to take that step. Examples cited earlier about what is happening in China illustrate that such limitation can be successfully undertaken. Although the Government initiatives in the UK are welcome, my challenge to them is that if we are to combat international terrorism, we must give robust consideration to the operation of ICANN. We must look at how it functions and determine whether it can better assist us to control a fundamental form of communication used daily between terrorist organisations and to recruit new members to them.