Conference on The Legal Framework for Countering Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content Online

The Vice-Chair External participated in a conference at the University of Lausanne on The Legal Framework for Countering Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content Online, on 8 December.

The speakers presented current legal developments in this area, which are mostly about new criminal provisions against terrorist acts and giving new powers to counter-espionage services to block web sites and surveil suspects.

This approach was criticized by some of the speakers, and by the Vice-Chair External, who pointed out that blocking of web sites is not an effective measure, that it is not appropriate to weaken encryption, that some mass surveillance programs are not likely to achieve the goal of preventing all terrorist attacks, and that the principles of due process, necessity and proportionality must be applied in all situations, including when combating terrorism.

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