The Times Online (London) reports:
Islamic militants are suspected of using Second Life, the internet virtual world, to hunt for recruits and mimic real-life terrorism.
Police and the intelligence services are concerned that it may have been infiltrated by extremists to proselytise, communicate and transfer money to one another. Radicals may also be responsible for “virtual” terrorist attacks in which buildings depicted on the website are blown up.
I'm in the process of completing an article that discusses whether and to what extent Muslim-Americans have altered their use of the Internet, after the 9/11 attacks, as a result of a concern that the government is monitoring the online activities of Muslims in the United States. The article, among other things, notes that the Internet has become a vital tool for al-Qaeda and as such is a target of government surveillance measures. This week's issue of the Economist contains an insightful article, entitled "A world wide web of terror," that helps explain why the Internet is al-Qaeda's "best friend." I recommend this article to anyone interested in the intersection of technology and national security.
This article from this month's Sydney Morning Herald describes the means by which terrorists have used the Internet to communciate and avoid detection, as well as the difficulties that governments face in identifying terrorist activity on the Internet:
As my biography notes, I am presently researching the alleged chilling effect of post-9/11 government security measures on the use of technology, principally the Internet, by Muslim-Americans. I intend to use my blog as a means to discuss relevant reports and news articles, and to update interested individuals on my research progress and results.
That said, I'd like to bring your attention to two interesting items that I came across today. The first is an article on a Washington Post-ABC News poll released yesterday. According to the article:
