UN REQUESTS INFORMATION ON COUNTERING THE USE OF

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000412 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER UNSC PREL AA SUBJECT: UN REQUESTS INFORMATION ON COUNTERING THE USE OF THE INTERNET FOR TERRORIST PURPOSES ¶1. Action Request: Please see para 2. ¶2. USUN has received the following (para 3) letter from the UN which requests information concerning terrorist use of the internet and measures being taken by the U.S. to combat this problem. Action Request. Response to UN requested by June ¶16. ¶2. BEGIN TEXT. 5 May 2008 Your Excellency, We are writing to request your government's active support for the Working Group on Countering the Use of the Internet for Terrorist Purposes set up by the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF). The CTITF, which consists of 24 UN system entities, is working with Member States to facilitate implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (A/RES/60/288) - adopted by consensus by the General Assembly in September 2006 -- in areas where UN system entities can add value. The Strategy includes agreement by Member States to explore how to "coordinate efforts at the international and regional level to counter-terrorism in all its forms and manifestations on the Internet to "use the Internet as a tool for countering the spread of terrorism, while recognizing that States may require assistance in this regard," and to do this "with due regard to confidentiality, respecting human rights and in compliance with other obligations under international law." The Working Group on Countering the Use of the Internet for Terrorist Purposes, of which we are the joint chairmen, was formed to assist Member States in this endeavor. The Working Group aims to identify and convene relevant stakeholders to quantify and delineate the abuse of the Internet for terrorist purposes and to explore possible ways to combat this abuse at a national, regional and global level, including what role the United Nations might play in coordinating action among Member States. In order to facilitate this objective, the Working Group is currently conducting a mapping exercise to identify what major legislation, conventions, initiatives and resources exist nationally, regionally and internationally that may be relevant to countering the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes. We would be most grateful in this regard if, by 16 June 2008, you could kindly provide us with information on how your State perceives the challenges posed by terrorist use of the Internet and what measures it has introduced, or considers introducing, to confront this problem. such information might include, for example: - Legal measures aimed at criminalizing and policing the use of computer systems to carry out cyber attacks. - Legal measures relevant to the issue of terrorist planning or the dissemination of terrorist content -- for example, incitement to carry out terrorist attacks, the propagation of terrorist training material or the seeking or transfer of funding for terrorism; - Measures for protecting human rights online and ensuring the freedom of access to the Internet in the context of attempts to combat terrorist use of the Internet: - Projects aimed at exploring and researching the dimensions of the online terrorist threat; - Projects (online or otherwise) aimed at countering the ideology of terrorist groups that is propagated over the Internet; - Information sharing and online training projects for agencies involved in counter-terrorism; - In general, projects aimed at cooperating with civil society in combating terrorism online. We would appreciate receiving any information on the above and/or any observations or comments on the proposed work of the Task Force in this area. Relevant information and documents should be sent to Ms. Julie Brown at brown26@un.org or by regular mail to the following address: Room 904, Uganda House, 336 E. 45th St., New York, NY ¶10017. If you would like any or all of the information you provide to be treated as confidential, please mark your correspondence accordingly. We look forward to hearing from you. With assurances of our highest consideration, signed Robert Orr Robert Orr Chair, United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force signed Richard Barrett Richard Barrett Co-Chair, Working Group on Countering the Use of the Internet for Terrorist Purposes. Khalilzad