Law enforcement continues to crack down on online information deemed dangerous, with manuals for the use of bombs being the subject of a new operation.
The web has become a catalyst for new innovative business models, e-commerce, new means of communication and an essential channel for education. However, when it comes to education and e-commerce, law enforcement agencies around the world have taken different positions on what is considered permissible, and certain topics, guides, and swap posts are being investigated and, in some cases, seizures or withdrawals.
Clandestine marketplaces including AlphaBay, Silk Road, DarkMarket and more recently CanadianHQ have been shut down by the Police. These platforms were used to sell all kinds of products, from narcotics to weapons and malware.
The debate on the free flow of information online reached its climax a few years ago with the Defense Distributed site, created by Cody Wilson. The website offered blueprints of 3D-printed weapons in the public domain, allowing users to ‘print’ their own at home – but US court rulings under international arms trafficking laws have been challenged. imposed in an attempt to stop the distribution of CAD files.
Europol at work
In Europe, bomb instruction manuals are now a hot topic for law enforcement. 1er February, Europol brought together agencies from France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom for a “day of removal action” to eliminate dangerous content online.
Specifically, Europol says “content on chemical explosives precursors” – in other words, instruction manuals for creating explosives – have been targeted as part of counter-terrorism action. The agency specifies that this content was “shared by networks supporting terrorism, in particular jihadist, far-right and far-left terrorist networks”.
A total of 563 pieces across 106 websites were referred for voluntary removal by online service providers. The files included manuals and tutorials on how to make bombs using precursors as well as instructions on “how to plan and carry out terrorist attacks”, Europol claims.
The content could become a subject of the European Platform for the Removal of Illegal Content on the Internet (PERCI), a platform of Europol’s roadmap, which could, in time, move the takedowns from a voluntary state to a forced – potentially as early as the next few months, increasing the power of law enforcement agencies to tackle online content. “This platform is a technical solution built by Europol and managed by theInternet Referral Unit of the EU to facilitate the implementation of the new regulation”, explains Europol. “Before this, the process of taking down terrorist content online was entirely voluntary on the part of tech companies. »
Source: ZDNet.com