The debates on the use of ICT by terrorists and the need to protect democracy are vexed and have no easy resolution. The definitions themselves are contested, as are the assumptions, of labeling terrorism, resulting in no insignificant difference of opinion amongst those who explore the use of technology for harm and good on how the emphasis can be shifted to the latter, as opposed to the mainstream news media coverage of the former.
A case in point was the recent plans to blow up JFK Airport in the US, which ignited debate in the US on whether technology such as Google Earth should be allowed in the public domain at all, whether such technologies should be regulated and controlled and how terrorism could use ICT to erode democracy. A counter opinion comes from Bruce Schneir, who in a reasoned post on Wired explores the dangers of giving too much credence to the threat of terrorism as opposed to efforts to use ICT to secure and strengthen resilience – which as Fareed Zakaria noted recently , is our best defense against terrorism.
For more food for thought, read:
- Technology, Trust and Terror
- The New Terrorism
- Untying the Gordian Knot: ICT for Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding
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