The Swiss Institute of Comparative Law held an international conference entitled ‘The Legal Framework for Countering Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content Online’ today, 8 December 2017.
The conference was organised in collaboration with the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (UN CTED), the Swiss foundation ICT4Peace, and the Ethics and Communication Law Centre of the Università della Svizzera Italiana.
The focus of the conference was the legal framework according to which terrorist and violent extremist content online is blocked or taken down. The primary aim of the event was to offer a better understanding of the emerging international normative framework and the diversity of legal approaches followed by States, as well as the private sector, regarding measures of monitoring, blocking and taking down of terrorist and violent extremist content online.
In order to understand not only the different national approaches, but also the different dynamics, the conference followed a multi-stakeholder approach. It also took into account the technical and economic aspects around measures of blocking and taking down Internet content, and aimed to identify good practices. With its focus on legal aspects, the conference addressed academics, government officials, lawyers, and legal professionals working for the different stakeholders.
There were four sessions during the conference. The first focused on the ‘Factual and Legal Background on ICT and Terrorism / Violent Extremism,’ the second on ‘International and Regional Legal Frameworks Regarding Monitoring, Blocking and Take Down of Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content Online,’ the third on ‘Practices and National Legal Frameworks Regarding Monitoring, Blocking and Take Down of Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content Online’ and the fourth on ‘Best Practices.’
VOX-Pol Coordinator, Prof. Maura Conway, presented during Session I on ‘The Use of ICT for Purposes of Terrorism and Violent Extremism.’
