The Internet, Freedom of Expression, and Terrorism - Assignment Example

SUICIDE TERRORISM AND CYBER TERRORISMThe Internet, Freedom of Expression, and TerrorismFemale Suicide BombersThe threat of terrorism has not been adequately addressed by the authorities for a number of reasons, primarily being the issues and grievances of the terrorists were not given due course to be heard or resolved satisfactorily. A main issue about terrorism is whether the use of terror is justified, or as Machiavelli once famously said, “the ends justify the means” and whether it is the right course to give in to these demands which use terror as a tool to achieve their objectives.

A key ingredient in understanding terrorism, especially the more fearsome form of terrorism which is suicide terrorism, is to view it from a strategic perspective. Professor Pape claims its purpose is strategic in nature when seen not from the perspective of the individual suicide bomber but from the perspective of the terrorist organization. When seen this way, suicide terrorism is a bit logical since it is aimed at achieving a specific political purpose (such as forcing a government to change its policies, to entice new recruits into joining their terror organization, and to mobilize both local and domestic financial support.

In this regard, there is method to their madness, so to speak, what Thomas Schelling termed as the “rationality of irrationality” (Pape, 2003, p. 344). A modern liberal democracy will be forced to make territorial concessions so that suicide bombers will no longer enter their own territory, forcing a state to improve its homeland security instead of taking offensive military action in another territory as a coercive instrument by the state. The significance of using female suicide bombers is an escalation and act of desperation.

However, there is also logic in using females for this purpose because it increases the threat of success since females are generally not suspected as capable of doing suicide terrorist attacks, a female attacker will not likely be frisked for bombs and is likely to accomplish her mission, the female attacker can easily conceal weapons on her body and garments, she can easily make last- minute adjustments, and is much more able to infiltrate heavily-guarded targets (ibid. p. 346). Combating Cyber-terrorismFreedom of expression is one of the basic human rights; this freedom extends to all forms of media such as individual verbal expression, on the radio, in the newspapers, and on television.

As such, freedom of expression is a basic foundation of a functioning democracy, and this kind of freedom has no limits except on the issues of libel and the corresponding obligation to use this basic freedom in a responsible manner. This freedom extends also to new forms of media such as the Internet in which the potential audience could be the entire world. In the continually evolving and transforming medium of the Internet, users have an ability to shape global access to information, communication, and newer technologies but at the same time, there is an effort to control and restrict Internet access.

especially on security concerns (Dutton et al., 2011, p. 1). While the Internet’s growth is predicated on the premise of complete freedom from any control by anybody and that access to it should be free for everybody, there are certain limits to what the Internet should be able to offer, more so in view of the threats of terrorism these days. Terrorists also use the Internet for their own evil purposes and so government authorities must put a limit to the access by these malevolent individuals.

Freedom of expression is assumed to be the default mode for everyone accessing the Internet except in the case of the evil individuals in which they use the same freedom on the Internet to subvert government authority and to kill or harm or maim innocent people just to achieve their own political agenda or personal aims. The use of the Internet implies privacy but when this privacy is used for evil ends, this privacy and its corresponding freedom does not apply and should be curtailed by the authorities as a protection and the veil of anonymity should be lifted to identify cyber-criminals (Levmore, 2010, p. 50) by tracing them.

There is a clear need to balance the competing interests such as state security with freedom of expression on the Internet; this freedom is not absolute (Cucereanu, 2008, p. 292). ReferencesCucereanu, D. (2008). Aspects of regulating freedom of expression on the Internet. Cambridge, UK: Intersentia.Dutton, W. H., Dopatka, A., Hills, M., Law, G., & Nash, V. (2011). Freedom of connection, freedom of expression: The changing legal and regulatory ecology shaping the Internet.

Paris, France: United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Solove, D. J. (2010). Speech, privacy, and reputation on the Internet. In S. Levmore and M. C. Nussbaum (Eds.). The offensive Internet (pp. 15-30). Boston, MA, USA; Harvard University Press.Pape, R. A. (2003, August). The strategic logic of suicide terrorism. American Political Science Review, 97(3), 343-361.