British spy chief: tech firms are terrorist targets

LONDON, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- The new chief of Britain's espionage agency called on social media companies such as Twitter and Facebook to be more proactive against terrorism.

Robert Hannigan, on his first day as head of Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), wrote in the Financial Times Monday the U.S. Internet firms, and those like them, are "in denial" about their involvement in the spread of terrorism, calling them "command-and-control networks" for Islamist recruiters. He added Islamic State terrorists are among the first generation of those whose "members have grown up on the Internet."

"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. GCHQ and its (British) sister agencies, MI5 and the Secret Intelligence Service, cannot tackle these challenges at scale without greater support from the private sector, including the largest U.S. technology companies which dominate the web."

Hannigan said encrypted messages are available to terrorists, and methods that "were once the preserve of the most sophisticated criminals or nation states now come as standard."

No comments were available from Facebook, Twitter or YouTube representatives.

In a September interview, Jean-Louis Brugiere, formerly France's chief anti-terrorism magistrate, noted nearly all militant recruitment is now done online, compared to 10 years ago when fringe mosques needed to be infiltrated by police to spot potential terrorists.