Daily Times

Theresa May is not a woman with whom it is easy to agree. Her hubris in calling a general election that she didn’t have to remains one of the greatest missteps in modern British politics. That she did so in a bid to secure her own majority — as opposed to the one she had inherited from Dave the Pig Farmer — and spectacularly lost, has not dampened her resolve to stay on until the bitter end. In other words, to the next general election and beyond. Keeping Calm and Carrying On may not help in this case.

Yet, despite all the odds, May is right about one thing: the nexus between the Internet and radicalisation, or at the very least, terror top tips. Over the summer at the G7 summit, the Prime Minister called for the policing of social media. Britain, at the time, was reeling from the horrors of the Manchester attacks. Over the weekend, still numb from the attempted bombing at Parsons Green tube station — May has gone as far as accusing the big boys of the worldwide web as having blood on their hands. Her contention being that cyberspace is full of so very many videos instructing one how to make cheap and deadly bombs at home. This was not the talk of some hysterical woman. For the night of the Underground attack — such material was still accessible online.

Naturally, there is only so much web giants can do in a limited amount of time. But the point is that it’s not just about Parsons Green. Britain has been there before. Back in 2012, Roshonara Choudhry became the first person in the country to attempt a political assassination after being radicalised online by Al Qaeda. She is said to have spent many hours watching YouTube videos featuring Anwar al-Awlaki, the late leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. She took matters into her own hands after compiling a list of all MPs who had voted for the illegal Iraq war of aggression. This led to the (non-fatal) stabbing of Stephen Timms, parliamentarian for an east London constituency. Back then, the dour Gordon Brown was PM. And he, along with senior White House officials, was reduced to making several requests to Google, owners of YouTube, to take down al-Awlaki’s sermons. For even after Choudhry was convicted — more than 5,000 of these remained ‘live’.

The point is that it’s not just about Parsons Green. Britain has been there before. Back in 2012, Roshonara Choudhry became the first person in the country to attempt a political assassination after being radicalised online by Al Qaeda. She is said to have spent many hours watching YouTube videos featuring Anwar al-Awlaki. Yet even after she was convicted — more than 5,000 of these remained ‘live’

This was before the rise of ISIS, the terror network that has proved most efficient in capitalising on the power of social media to recruit young European-based jihadist wannabes, especially teenage girls. In short, ISIS has been successful in using technology to sell membership as sort of long-term adventure tourism, far more glamorous than the usual gap year but with the promise of just as much sex. Of course, this is technology that is shunned once recruits reach Syria. Which may or may have more to do with cutting off contact with the outside world as opposed to living an ‘authentic’ Muslim life.

Support for what PM May has called for is not to deny the unequivocal link between a radicalised community at home and a militarised foreign policy abroad. But it is a call for everyone to play their due part. If we can rightly call out Britain and other countries from profiting from increased arms sales as the Middle East continues to burn — we can and must similarly call out those who control the ‘air corridors’ of cyberspace.

Similarly, it is no longer enough to bully nations who physically harbour militant groups. We have to stamp out terror wherever it may lurk.

The writer is the Deputy Managing Editor, Daily Times. She can be reached at mirandahusain@me.com and tweets @humeiwei

Published in Daily Times, September 19^th 2017.