Tag Archive: Jacqui Smith

First the UK government proposed a giant database that recorded all contacts on the Internet and by phone. Now they’ve abandoned that, and instead the Home Office plans to ask communications companies to keep records on their subscribers and all their activity, whether it’s online or on mobile phones, according to the BBC.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said:

"Communications data is an essential tool for law enforcement agencies to track murderers, pedophiles, save lives and tackle crime."

"Advances in communications mean that there are ever more sophisticated ways to communicate and we need to ensure that we keep up with the technology being used by those who seek to do us harm.”

Knife crime is bad in the UK. So is drunken, random street violence at night. And the last thing the British government wants is to encourage more of it. For several months it’s been putting pressure on YouTube regarding some of its content.

Just a few days ago the company decided to ban violent videos. Now, in a move specific to the UK (much as the ban on Nazi-related videos in Germany) YouTube has agreed to ban videos showing weapons and intimidation.

A spokesman told the BBC:

With the Internet one of the frontiers of the war on terror, British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has announced plans to combat Internet extremism, hopingto stop “vulnerable” young people being drawn toward radical groups, the BBC reports.   Smith announced that she’s been working with major ISPs and Muslim groups on plans.  "We are already working closely with the communications industry to take action against pedophiles. I believe we should also take action against those who groom vulnerable people for thepurposes of violent extremism," Smith will say in a statement today. "An effective response to terrorism depends on us – on the active commitment of individuals and communities to certainrights and responsibilities, to shared values which apply irrespective of religion or culture."   The government has plans to spend $1 billion to fund counter-terrorism and securitymeasures, in addition to backing a traveling roadshow which features Muslim figures discussing extremism.   So far the government’s previous policy hasn’t proved effective in acountry with a large young Muslim population, so it’s hoped that this new tack might work to combat the growth of radicalism.