Following the recent alleged terror plot in the UK, a mini-summit of EU justice ministers was held in London last Wednesday. Several proposals were discussed, including the tightening of hand luggage checks in airports, more exchange of information on air passengers and teaching of European values to Muslim preachers.

Worryingly, they also came up with the idea of the blocking of some websites.

The Times has more and quotes EU justice commissioner Franco Frattini as saying: “I think it’s very important to explore further possibilities of blocking websites that incite to commit terrorist actions.”

Incitement is already a crime, regardless of the medium used. Inventing new or special rules for the internet looks very much like a case of wanting to be seen to be doing something rather than spending the time and resources that it will take to do something effective.

Trackback this Post | Feed on comments to this Post