Cyber freedom’s dark side

Alarm bells are ringing in government offices worldwide after a British spy chief admitted that technology giants like Facebook and Twitter were fast becoming the “command and control networks of choice” for terrorists. Robert Hannigan, who heads GCHQ, the ears and eyes of both the UK and Nato, noted that the terror threat situation was getting out of control with jihadists in Iraq and Syria using the Internet not only to intimidate people but also recruit acolytes for outfits like ISIS. He said while Facebook and the others were trying to further freedom by encrypting data to protect users’ privacy, they were perhaps unwittingly exposing themselves as hubs of terror and anarchy.

Just a few years ago, the world lauded social media for spreading the word in the Arab Spring, that led to so much change in West Asia and North Africa. But that obviously is a double-edged sword, as the forces of darkness are now also using the same platforms. It is also being pointed out that Edward Snowden’s high level of encryption is being gleefully copied by the dark forces.

While Snowden remains a popular anti-establishment figure in the West and elsewhere, the intelligence community views him a little differently. He made many forceful points about the tyranny of governments and their breaching the privacy of citizens. The problem now is that the so-called “free world” is beginning to feel unsafe.