227
Internet Intermediaries
and Counter-Terrorism:
Between Self-Regulation and
Outsourcing Law Enforcement
1
Abstract: Recent years have seen increasing pressure on Internet intermediaries that
provide a platform for and curate third-party content to monitor and police, on behalf of
the State, online content generated or disseminated by users. This trend is prominently
motivated by the use of ICTs by terrorist groups as a tool for recruitment, nancing,
and planning operations. States and international organizations have long called for
enhanced cooperation between the public and private sectors to aid efforts to counter
terrorism and violent extremism. However, as the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of
Expression noted in his latest report to the Human Rights Council, ‘the intersection
of State behaviour and corporate roles in the digital age remains somewhat new for
many States’.
Detailed information on the means and modalities of content control exercised by
online platforms is scarce. Terms of service and community standards are commonly
drafted in terms that do not provide sufciently clear guidance on the circumstances
under which content may be blocked, removed or restricted, or access to a service may
be restricted or terminated. Users have limited possibilities to challenge decisions to
restrict material or access to a service. Moreover, as private bodies, such platforms
are generally subject to limited democratic or independent oversight. At the same
time, having private actors such as social media companies increasingly undertake
traditionally public interest tasks in the context of Internet governance is likely
unavoidable, as public authorities frequently lack the human or technical resources to
satisfactorily perform these tasks.
Krisztina Huszti-Orban
School of Law
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, United States
khusztio@umn.edu
2018 10th International Conference on Cyber Conict
CyCon X: Maximising Eects
T. Minárik, R. Jakschis, L. Lindström (Eds.)
2018 © NATO CCD COE Publications, Tallinn
Permission to make digital or hard copies of this publication for internal
use within NATO and for personal or educational use when for non-prot or
non-commercial purposes is granted providing that copies bear this notice
and a full citation on the rst page. Any other reproduction or transmission
requires prior written permission by NATO CCD COE.
1
This work was supported by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council [grant number ES/
M010236/1].
