Chinese envoy calls for new methods to fight internet-aided terrorism

A Chinese envoy to the United Nations on Thursday called on the international community to effectively prevent terrorist groups from using the internet and social media to recruit new members.

The internet and social media have become an important platform for terrorist groups, said Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the UN, at a Security Council open debate on counter-terrorism.

Therefore, the international community should take targeted methods to stop terrorist from recruiting new members, spreading extremist ideology, raising funds and plotting terrorist attacks using the internet and social media, he said.

Moreover, countries should strengthen the regulations of the internet and relevant agencies of the United Nations should coordinate such efforts, he said.

The envoy also stressed that the effects of terrorism transcend national boundaries: no country can cope with this threat alone, and no country can be spared, he said.

The international community should adhere to uniform standards and zero tolerance for terrorism, he said, while highlighting that terrorism should not be linked to a specific nation or religion.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday also called for curtailing terrorists groups' ability to abuse and misuse the internet and social media to radicalize and recruit young people at Thursday's open debate.

Noting that more than 30,000 people from all over the world have joined Daesh's campaigns in Iraq and Syria, Ban and warned that Daesh -- the acronym for the Islamic State in Arabic language -- has shown an ability to radicalize and recruit disaffected youth, including women and girls, through strategies involving the internet and social media.

"We must curtail the ability to abuse and misuse the internet and social media to radicalize and recruit young people, by identifying global and regional solutions that involve governments, private enterprise and civil society," said Ban. Enditem