UN terrorism committee calls for efforts to combat digital terrorism 

UN Security Council's Counter Terrorism Committee Chairman Jean Paul Laborde called on Saturday here for intensified efforts to combat digital terrorism.

Speaking at a session during the World Economic Forum in Jordan, Laborde said as the number of terrorist groups using digital technology to set their agendas and promote their ideologies is on the rise, there is a need to address this issue.

The Islamic State (IS) group has been active over the past few months in using social media, such as Twitter, to recruit militants, trying to promote their extremist ideologies and violence by taking advantage of new technologies and the increasing usage of Internet.

The IS, which controls large areas of Iraq and Syria, published about 40,000 tweets on Twitter per day, Laborde official said, adding that it succeeded in recruiting militants from more than 90 counties via the Internet.

Meanwhile, the UN official underlined the need for endorsing legislation to fight digital terrorism.

Fighting digital extremism is crucial to put an end to terrorist groups which are thriving on recruiting militants, experts from Arab and European countries at the session said, adding that all the countries across the world need to cooperate to combat digital terrorism. Endit