Azernews.Az

By Bloomberg

The director of the U.K.'s spy listening post said on his first day in office that Internet giants such as Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. are "in denial" about their role in spreading terrorism.

Robert Hannigan, head of surveillance agency GCHQ, called on U.S. technology companies to support the fight against terrorism, saying in an op-ed in today's Financial Times that the largest firms have become the "command-and-control networks" of terrorists.

Islamic State is the first terrorist group whose "members have grown up on the Internet," Hannigan said. GCHQ and other U.K. intelligence agencies cannot tackle the threat without help from private companies, he said.

"However much they may dislike it, they have become the command-and-control networks of choice for terrorists and criminals, who find their services as transformational as the rest of us," Hannigan said. "To those of us who have to tackle the depressing end of human behavior on the Internet, it can seem that some technology companies are in denial about its misuse."

Islamic State has used the Internet to post videos of its leader's sermons and the beheadings of hostages, including the killings of British and American journalists and aid workers. Militants have also hijacked popular Twitter hashtags such as #WorldCup to ensure a wider audience for their messages.

Encrypting Messages

Hannigan said that technology allows militants to encrypt messages, as techniques that "were once the preserve of the most sophisticated criminals or nation states now come as standard." Foreign fighters have learned from Edward Snowden, the former U.S. National Security Agency contractor who leaked details about surveillance programs carried out by U.S. and U.K. intelligence agencies, he said.

GCHQ should "enter the public debate" about how data is used, Hannigan said. Still, "privacy has never been an absolute right and the debate about this should not become a reason for postponing urgent and difficult decisions," he wrote.

Nu Wexler, a spokesman for Twitter, had no comment on the article. Jodi Seth, a spokeswoman for Facebook, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.