‘Social media turning into toolkit for terror’

NEW DELHI: India on Saturday highlighted the potential for misuse of transformative technologies such as encrypted messaging and virtual currencies by non-state actors, with external affairs minister S Jaishankar calling for stronger global efforts to combat their use by terrorists.

Internet and social media have turned into “potent instruments in the toolkit of terrorist and militant groups” for spreading radicalisation and conspiracy theories, he said.

Jaishankar made the pitch in his keynote address at a special meeting of the UN Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) hosted by India. The meet focused on countering terrorist exploitation of ICT, internet and social media, threats related to new payment technologies and use of unmanned aerial systems (UASs) by terrorists.

Jaishankar said terrorist

PTI External affairs minister S Jaishankar at the UNSC-CTC meeting in New Delhi on Saturday