On January 18, a group of delegates from European countries will meet in Madrid to talk about how to make the Internet less terrorist-friendly. The meeting is the second official workshop of a project called Clean IT, led by Holland's Ministry of Security And Justice and funded (at least in part) by the European Union's Prevention of and Fight against Crime program.
What’s interesting about Clean IT is its emphasis on voluntary participation. It does not seek to enact any laws. The idea is to build an international coalition of governments and companies that are concerned about the ways that the Internet can abet “terrorism and extremism.” Users, too, will be enlisted, encouraged to flag troubling content and report it to participating ISPs and/or law enforcement agencies.
The whole thing seems so generic, uncontroversial, and benign that you have to dig into the organization’s downloadable "draft documents," in which its objectives are spelled out in more detail, to find the troubling parts.
Here’s a direct quote of some interest, from page 2:
The CleanIT project aims to limit the use of the internet for terrorist and extremist purposes:
1. for propaganda, recruitment, incitement, financing and acquiring knowledge and other kinds of support.
2. by all kinds of terrorists and extremist organizations and individuals. Including (alphabetical) animal rights, left-wing, racist, religious, right-wing, separatist and all other terrorist and extremist organizations and individuals.
Animal rights?! Wait a second. Is Clean IT planning to prevent PETA from using the Web as a platform for spreading veganism?
The document repeatedly uses the phrase "terrorist and extremist." It’s easy to read this as “terrorists and terrorist sympathizers,” or some such. But “extremist” here appears to be code for anti-establishment sentiment of any sort. Notice the use of “right-wing” and “left-wing.” All the bases are covered. If you hold a strong opinion on any subject, you’re fair game.
Among the "partial solutions" offered for dealing with such miscreants are those listed in the following direct excerpts (boldface added):
Flagging. ISPs could offer users easy to use flagging systems as much as possible. LEAs [Law Enforcement Agencies] of all countries should actively flag and encourage the use of flagging among end users as much as possible as a way of notification to the ISP that they are hosting content which might be illegal or unwanted.
Notice and take down. Clear and fast procedures by ISPs for notifications by users, NGO’s or LEAs pointing at possibly unwanted or illegal activity on the internet by terrorists and extremists.
So we’re talking about an international coalition of governments, law enforcement agencies, ISPs, and concerned citizens, set to expeditiously purge troublemakers of any sort from the online world.
It’s important to recognize what’s really happening here. The definition of “extremist” is being kept loose on purpose, so that it can be loosely applied. This is not an anti-terrorist network -- it is a network of political and corporate control in the guise of a benevolent do-gooder organization.
The malice here is being masked in two ways. First, the solutions proposed are non-binding; Clean IT has no authority and claims to have none. Second, the organization emphasizes how open it is to outside feedback. Anyone can read the latest drafts of its charter, and it's eager to engage in public dialogue with concerned citizens.
But in practice, Clean IT will lay the groundwork for at least three undesirable scenarios: 1) users around the world being encouraged to spy on and report each other (and their ISPs); 2) ISPs encouraged to spy on and report their users, including organizations whose Websites they host; and 3) governments encouraged to collect the information gleaned from 1) and 2), and share it with the international cabal of (if you will) anti-extremists.
And Americans, let’s not kid ourselves; Clean IT will eventually intersect with SOPA and/or PIPA. We’ll be asked to flag others, we may be flagged ourselves, and eventually the DHS will be part of this network.
This is the consolidation of power based on fear that author Naomi Klein calls "the shock doctrine."
As responsible citizens of the Net, let’s not participate. Flag nothing. Or, better yet: Flag everything.
— Michael Bennett Cohn has a range of creative, business, and technical experience in online publishing. He is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/miconian.
I don't think it's governmental overreach - I think it's the nearly complete coopting of government by corporations, while they distract people with pretty circuses.
And the people are bying it - SOPA and PIPA will be back, with new names, and provisions just as draconian. Why? Because they have no reason not to keep trying , and the money they bribe the politicians with (sorry - the money they hire former staff of politiicans with, and reelect the pliable politicans, in order to shift incentives) is small compared to the windfall short term profits they will receive.
Again, it;s a question of motivation. This is why treating capital gains differently than income, and allowing the rich to claim they are paying more than their fair share, is dangerous. The politicans are effectively neutered - they don't scare me any more. But their inefficacy is exactly what allows corporations to co-opt the mechanisms of government. And that is what is occurring, still - after a pause to allow the short term memories of the public to fade.
"Michael, it's a good movement. As of now internet security is a common issue irrespective of place and location. So the international collaboration can help to evolve new methods and cooperation against terrorism and extremism. Let everybody uses the internet for good purposes."
So how do you define 'good purposes'? So does it mean then to you that your government should determine what is an acceptable 'good purpose' of using the internet?
That's an optimistic way to look at it, but the truth is that the big corporations are in bed with the governments here. And increasingly, the line between government and corporations is blurring anyway. It's the big corps that pay the lobbyists, pay for campaign ads, and influence (if not outright determine) policy.
And that's why Google isn't going to black out its domain tomorrow to protest SOPA/PIPA. It's not worried about SOPA/PIPA. It's part of the system. And I say that, not to denigrate Google, which is great in many ways, but simply because it's true.
Govenments want power. They will use the power for the goals they have, including their own stability and increasing their power. If the government thinks that its own stability requires drastic measures, it will take them. This is well known; it's the reason that governments have constitutions and balances of power.
The limitations on governments work relatively well - if the government wants stability, it will undermine itself by bypassing the system that grants legitimacy. This is a balance between govenment and the limitations on that same government. International bodies, in general, have no such balance, and allow governments to bypass the ruels they themselves need to follow. (Their balance is to protect their members, that is, countries, from the bodies, not to protect the citizens.)
The international "Clean IT" and "copyright protection" plans are a way for governments to do things that they otherwise cannot get away with. The only players that have enough power to affect this are... large corporations. So what motivates them to fight back? Claims that governments will abuse this power (which they will,) and that it will reduce, not enhance, stability (which may or may not be true.)
But Gigi, that's exactly how they want you to think! The issue isn't just "internet security," it's "extremism." How do you know that nobody will consider your favorite floral arrangement website to be inappropriate, "extreme," or otherwise worthy of flagging/removing?
"The idea is to build an international coalition of governments and companies that are concerned about the ways that the Internet can abet "terrorism and extremism""
Michael, it's a good movement. As of now internet security is a common issue irrespective of place and location. So the international collaboration can help to evolve new methods and cooperation against terrorism and extremism. Let everybody uses the internet for good purposes.
Well, dcuperus, there are algorithms for all sorts of things. But this is more about voluntary reporting by human beings. That being said, it's not beyond the pale to imagine that websites might be arbitrarily shut down at some point based on algorithmic judgement.
I thought web monitoring already exists through some sort of keyword algorithm. Is it to find a way to require ISP's to report any and all information to a hub? Perhaps a more clearly defined way to do what is already being done. Or am I not understanding.
Even more ridiculously, these people are focused not just on "terrorism," but on "extremism." You don't have to be malicious to qualify as dangerous; just enthusiastic! About anything. I wonder if the Curduroy Appreciation Club will be on file.
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