I. BACKGROUND
Information and communications technologies (ICT) -- including the Internet, social media platforms, other online spaces[1], and related emerging technologies[2] -- while mostly used for beneficial purposes, have also become tools of choice for terrorists such as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as Daesh), Al-Qaida, their affiliated groups and supporters, and other designated terrorist organizations. These actors are known to exploit ICT to engage in a wide range of activities for terrorist purposes, including recruitment and incitement to commit terrorist acts, training, planning, networking, securing logistical support, acquiring weapons and their components, fundraising, and the conduct of terrorist operations.
Exponential leaps in the development of new and emerging ICT raise new risks for how terrorists could exploit such technologies to advance their ability to operate and avoid detection. Terrorist actors are already exploiting generative AI, chatbots, decentralized online spaces, cloud-based archives, and a range of other technological tools to reach their audiences and attract new supporters, incite violence, augment reconnaissance and targeting, and avoid detection. While the threat of their misuse for terrorist purposes is apparent, these technologies also have immense potential to be used for social and economic development, as well to be used by States to increase the effectiveness of their counter-terrorism efforts.
The United Nations Security Council has its focused attention on countering the exploitation of ICT for terrorist purposes for over 23 years, adopting 16 counter-terrorism related resolutions and five policy documents on the matter.[3] In resolution 2617 (2021), the Council specifically referenced “[the] Internet, other information and communications technology (ICTs), and other emerging technologies for terrorist purposes”. In the Delhi Declaration adopted by the Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee in October 2022, the Committee gave focus to the need for Member States “to prevent and counter the use of new ICT and other emerging technologies for terrorist purposes”. The Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC), through its Executive Directorate (CTED), works with United Nations Member States, Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact entities, and other key regional, civil society, and tech sector partners to strengthen States’ implementation of these and other counter-terrorism resolutions through the conduct of assessments, the identification of emerging trends, and the facilitation of targeted knowledge and capacity building.
The Security Council has repeatedly called on Member States to ensure that any measures taken to combat terrorism comply with all their obligations under international law, including international human rights law. This is particularly relevant to the use of ICT and emerging technologies in terrorism prevention and law enforcement efforts for which unintended consequences and potential human rights implications often evolve in tandem with technological adaptations. The mainstreaming of gender perspectives across all aspects of terrorism prevention and counter-terrorism programmes, particularly those to counter the use of ICT and related new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes, has become increasingly important.
A cooperative approach in partnership with the private sector, civil society, and other stakeholders is stressed in Security Council resolutions 2322 (2016), 2370 (2017), 2395 (2017), 2396 (2017), and 2617 (2021), as well as in the Delhi Declaration. Coordination and cooperation, including the sharing of information, are essential for States to effectively counter-terrorism. The involvement of a broad range of stakeholders (including United Nations entities, international and regional organizations, civil society organizations, academia, and private sector technology partners) can help to ensure that measures and policies developed to prevent and counter the use of ICT and emerging technologies for terrorist purpose are crafted in a comprehensive and holistic manner reflecting whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches.[4], Collaboration through such partnerships can additionally help States mitigate risks, reduce potential negative impacts, and avoid restrictive responses based on potential risks that could be unnecessary and disproportionate to the advantages brought by these technologies.
II. OBJECTIVE
Panelists will present the work of their organizations on countering the use of ICT and related emerging technologies for terrorist purposes. They will highlight how this work is both an essential component of a multi-stakeholder digital environment and necessary for maintaining peace and encouraging good relations between States, including in the pursuit of technological advances and societal development. Panelists will further address the importance of inclusiveness (all-of-society approach), compliance with international human rights, and the strengthening of partnerships between diverse stakeholders in the design and implementation of State counter-terrorism efforts related to, and reliant upon, ICT and emerging technologies.
[1] ICT and related online spaces can include, inter alia, messaging tools and chat bots, video games and gaming-adjacent platforms and chatrooms; video and audio live-streams and podcasts; the darknet and dark web; online marketplaces; Web 3.0, Web 4.0, the Fediverse and various other decentralized online spaces; Metaverse-type spaces and applications; terrorist operated websites (TOWs) and web-based publications, blogs and electronic books; also digital archives and other digital spaces.
[2] Such as, for example, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning systems and tools including large-language, generative, and fusion models; augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) systems and applications; special computing systems; quantum computing applications; blockchain-supported applications and platforms; cloud-based platforms; voice, gate, and other biometrics cloning technologies; advanced robotics; cyber-threat software (malware); and other nascent cyber technologies.
[3] These include resolutions 1373 (2001), 1624 (2005), 1963 (2010), 2129 (2013), 2178 (2014), 2199 (2015), 2322 (2016), 2331 (2016), 2341 (2017), 2354 (2017), 2370 (2017), 2395 (2017), 2396 (2017), 2462 (2019), 2617 (2021), and 2713 (2023); also the Madrid Guiding Principles (S/2015/939), Statement by the President of the Security Council (S/PRST/2016/6), Comprehensive International Framework to Counter Terrorist Narratives (S/2017/375), Addendum to the [Madrid] Guiding Principles on foreign terrorist fighters (2018) (S/2018/1177), and the Delhi Declaration (2022).
[4] Resolutions 2322 (2016), 2370 (2017), 2395 (2017), 2396 (2017), and 2617 (2021) stress the importance of cooperation with civil society and the private sector. Resolutions 2395 (2017), 2396 (2017), and 2617 (2021) specifically recognize Tech Against Terrorism and the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT); resolution 2617 (2021) additionally notes the Christchurch Call.
