http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/printArticle.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=392484&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17
Saudi study finds a total of 300 extremist websites
Publish Date: Sunday,17 October, 2010, at 12:24 PM Doha Time
DPA/Riyadh
A new study conducted out of Saudi Arabia has found that there are some 300
websites propagating extremist ideologies, the Saudi Gazette reported yesterday
-- a number that falls far short of data compiled by Western studies. Just last
month, Ronald Noble of Interpol said there were around 4,500 extremist websites
in 2006, compared to just 12 in 1998. He said their numbers continue to
skyrocket.
But the author of the Saudi study, online research specialist Fayez al-Shehri,
said that data is exaggerated because Western groups monitoring the web tend to
classify websites that are simply Islamic as extremist. The Saudi research was
made public at a workshop aimed at curbing extremist ideology. It was not clear
if the study was paid for by the government.
Speakers at the workshop, though, urged the Saudi government to step up efforts
to propagate websites that counter extremism, given that more moderate websites
are few and far between, according to the Saudi Gazette. Ministry of Islamic
Affairs Undersecretary Tawfeeq al Sudairi told the newspaper that mosques also
have a role to play. He said that Friday sermons must be geared toward
instilling "intellectual security" in youth who could fall susceptible to such
websites.
The workshop also focused on the role of the Saudi government's Communications
and Information Technology Commission, noting that the government body should
increase its monitoring of extremist websites, which are often used as a
recruitment tool.
For its part, the British government has created the Counter Terrorism Internet
Referral Unit to monitor websites, while national security officials in the
United States are pressing Congress to require that all web communications be
compatible for wiretapping.
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