Secretariat - Action against Terrorism Unit

Terrorists use the Internet for a variety of purposes. These include identifying and recruiting potential members, collecting and transferring funds, organizing terrorist acts (including the provision of training) and inciting the commission of terrorist offences, especially through the use of propaganda.

Moreover, the Internet - unlike any other medium - is not linked to any physical location. People intent on abusing cyberspace for terrorist purposes can do so from virtually anywhere in the world with just a laptop and an Internet connection. As a consequence, concerted efforts within the OSCE region (and ultimately globally) are the only viable means to counter this threat, particularly since terrorist organizations are able to take advantage of differences in national responses. As terrorist online operations are banned in some states, they can simply be moved elsewhere.

The OSCE Action against Terrorism Unit (ATU) has been active in combating terrorist use of the Internet for several years.

Concerned by the extent of the use of the Internet by terrorist organizations, OSCE participating States adopted two decisions at the Ministerial level (MC.DEC No. 3/04 and MC.DEC No. 7/06), the first one in 2004 and a subsequent one in 2006. These decisions serve as the basis for the ATU's activities in this area. 

To implement these decisions, the Unit has already devoted three OSCE-wide events to this issue: the OSCE Expert Workshop on Combating the Use of the Internet for Terrorist Purposes held in Vienna in October 2005, and the joint OSCE/Council of Europe Expert Workshop on Preventing Terrorism: Fighting Incitement and Related Terrorist Activities, held in October 2006. This last event, which dedicated an entire session to the topic of terrorist use of the Internet, illustrated the constructive partnership that the OSCE and the CoE enjoy in the area of combating terrorism.

The most recent event, the 2007 Expert Workshop on Combating Incitement to Terrorism on the Internet, represented the logical and necessary continuation and fusion of previous ATU efforts in the inter-linked thematic areas of combating the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes and in the area of fighting incitement to terrorism and related terrorist activities.

Taken together, these three workshops have brought together almost 500 experts from more than 50 countries. In addition to being offered presentations by more than twenty of the world's foremost experts on the subject, they were able to discuss and network with their peers and enjoy the benefits of the platform for information exchange the OSCE is able to offer through its expert workshops.

For more information, please contact the ATU directly.