India on Saturday warned of the threat posed by the use of various technologies for terrorist activities as they become “cheaper and more readily available”. India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ruchira Kamboj said that new and emerging technologies have helped spur economic growth and offer the opportunity to reduce existing inequalities, but have also brought several challenges that require our attention and urgent action. “The use of new technologies for terrorist purposes is increasing, diversifying and evolving as different technologies become cheaper and more accessible,” Kambojová said in her opening statement on Day 2 of the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee meeting.
“The proliferation of online activities, especially during the pandemic, has given terrorists the opportunity to spread their toxic narratives perfecting their propaganda, especially targeting youth and children, including through gaming platforms,” she added. India is hosting a two-day counter-terrorism meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The ongoing meeting in Delhi is being held under the Indian Chairmanship of the Counter-Terrorism Committee.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar emphasized in the meeting that the menace of terrorism is growing and expanding despite the considerable efforts of the UN Security Council in the last two decades to combat the menace. Jaishankar said the technology has also thrown up new challenges for governments and regulators given “the very nature of some of these technologies and the nascent regulatory environment”.
“Over the past 2 decades, the UN Security Council has developed an important architecture built primarily around the counter-terrorism sanctions regime to combat this threat. It has been very effective in alerting countries that have made terrorism a state-sponsored enterprise,” the minister said. “Despite this, the threat of terrorism is only growing and expanding, particularly in Asia and Africa, as the Sanctions Committee’s 1,267 follow-up reports have shown,” he added.
Jaishankar further said that the internet and social media platforms have turned into powerful tools in the toolbox of terrorists and militant groups to spread propaganda, radicalization and conspiracy theories aimed at destabilizing societies. “Adding to the existing concerns of governments around the world is the use of unmanned aerial systems by terrorist groups and organized crime networks,” he added.
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