29/05/24
Spain leads the European plan against the dissemination of terrorist propaganda and radicalism on the Internet
The Minister for Home Affairs, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has inaugurated a European meeting on the fight against the dissemination of terrorist propaganda via the Internet.
The conference brings together around 50 security experts from 24 EU countries and is co-organised by the European Commission and the Centre for Intelligence against Terrorism and Organised Crime (CITCO).
Grande-Marlaska highlighted Spain's "pioneering" role in enforcing orders to remove radical content online and the need for "meticulous vigilance and coordinated action to protect European citizens and the rule of law also in cyberspace".
In June 2022, the EU launched a regulation to combat the dissemination of terrorist content, the main objective of which was to curb jihadist and other radical groups' propaganda via Internet platforms, applications and hosting services.
Spain is at the forefront of the European strategy thanks to the actions promoted by CITCO, the body accredited for this task. In April 2023, it became the first country to request the removal of terrorist materials after discovering a jihadist proselytising video located in a freely accessible online digital library.
"The Ministry of Home Affairs' Centre for Intelligence against Terrorism and Organised Crime, now in its tenth year of existence, was designated in 2015 as the national point of contact for all matters related to the removal of terrorist content," said Grande-Marlaska.
"In recent years we have intensified our efforts with the creation of the National Unit for the Removal of Terrorist Content, whose specialisation facilitates and coordinates the active participation of all relevant actors to clean our network of terrorist messages and thus demonstrate our capacity to adapt and respond," the minister added.
Grande-Marlaska stressed the importance of "rapid intervention" to curb the spread of radical messages and praised the preparedness of the Spanish and European security forces in "identifying threats and responding to the challenges of new technologies".
At the opening of the workshop, the minister was accompanied by Katarzyna Cuadrat-Grzybowska, Deputy Director of the European Commission's Radicalisation Prevention Unit; Arda Gerkens, Chairwoman of the Netherlands Authority for the Prevention of Terrorist Content and Child Sexual Abuse Material; and Manuel Navarrete, Director of CITCO.
The minister thanked the "proactive and constant support of the European Commission" and the choice of Madrid on this occasion as the meeting place for the working groups in applying Regulation (EU) 2021/784. He also called on those present "to join forces, share experiences and make proposals to strengthen the legal framework and cooperation".
The Minister for Home Affairs, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, during his speech at the opening of the European meeting on the fight against the dissemination of terrorist propaganda via the Internet
The conference brings together around 50 security experts from 24 EU countries and is co-organised by the European Commission and the Centre for Intelligence against Terrorism and Organised Crime (CITCO).
Grande-Marlaska highlighted Spain's "pioneering" role in enforcing orders to remove radical content online and the need for "meticulous vigilance and coordinated action to protect European citizens and the rule of law also in cyberspace".
In June 2022, the EU launched a regulation to combat the dissemination of terrorist content, the main objective of which was to curb jihadist and other radical groups' propaganda via Internet platforms, applications and hosting services.
Spain is at the forefront of the European strategy thanks to the actions promoted by CITCO, the body accredited for this task. In April 2023, it became the first country to request the removal of terrorist materials after discovering a jihadist proselytising video located in a freely accessible online digital library.
"The Ministry of Home Affairs' Centre for Intelligence against Terrorism and Organised Crime, now in its tenth year of existence, was designated in 2015 as the national point of contact for all matters related to the removal of terrorist content," said Grande-Marlaska.
The Minister for Home Affairs, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, inaugurates a conference on the elimination of terrorist content online with representatives of 24 countries of the European Union
"In recent years we have intensified our efforts with the creation of the National Unit for the Removal of Terrorist Content, whose specialisation facilitates and coordinates the active participation of all relevant actors to clean our network of terrorist messages and thus demonstrate our capacity to adapt and respond," the minister added.
Grande-Marlaska stressed the importance of "rapid intervention" to curb the spread of radical messages and praised the preparedness of the Spanish and European security forces in "identifying threats and responding to the challenges of new technologies".
At the opening of the workshop, the minister was accompanied by Katarzyna Cuadrat-Grzybowska, Deputy Director of the European Commission's Radicalisation Prevention Unit; Arda Gerkens, Chairwoman of the Netherlands Authority for the Prevention of Terrorist Content and Child Sexual Abuse Material; and Manuel Navarrete, Director of CITCO.
The minister thanked the "proactive and constant support of the European Commission" and the choice of Madrid on this occasion as the meeting place for the working groups in applying Regulation (EU) 2021/784. He also called on those present "to join forces, share experiences and make proposals to strengthen the legal framework and cooperation".
European meeting to fight against the dissemination of terrorist propaganda via the internet, which has brought together security experts from 24 countries of the European Union
In just one hour
In 2023, Spain issued more than 60 orders for the suppression of materials under the EU Regulation, both jihadist propaganda and right-wing extremist terrorism. In July 2023, it became the first country to use 'Perci', a tool designed by Europol to coordinate state action against Internet data hosting platforms and services.
The administrative orders issued by CITCO affect videos, photos, text documents and even entire profiles and channels. 'Perci' allows the request to made to IT companies for the immediate deletion of files without the need for judicial authorisation. The vast majority of such terrorist content was removed or blocked within one hour.
Spain carries out intensive monitoring of networks, portals and applications to prevent terrorist actions. As a result of this effort, more than 3,000 URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) were closed in 2023 alone, almost 60 per cent of all requests made in the EU.
As of 31 December 2023, 349 withdrawal orders have been issued against various platforms such as Telegram, Meta, Justpaste.it, TikTok, among others, by authorities in six EU member states.
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