Same Kind of Different

• Published date: 01 February 2017
• Date: 01 February 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12285

POLICY ESSAY

TERRORIST USE OF THE INTERNET

Same Kind of Different

Affordances, Terrorism, and the Internet

Paul J. Taylor

Donald Holbrook

Lancaster University

Adam Joinson

University of Bath

The rapid development of the Internet as a cornerstone of private and social life

has provoked a growing effort by law enforcement and security agencies to under-

stand what role the Internet plays in terrorism. Paul Gill, Emily Corner, Maura

Conway,Amy Thornton, Mia Bloom, and John Horgan’s(2017, this issue) effort to identify

empirically when and how terrorists engage with the Internet is thus timely and impor-

tant. Understanding when terrorists use the Internet is valuable for investigators who must

evaluate the immediacy of the risk posed by a suspect or cell. Knowing the typical patterns

of use (or lack of use) can facilitate inferences about a cell’s preparedness, the nature of its

support, and even the goal of its attack. Understanding how terrorists use the Internet is

essential for policy makers who must construct legislation to deter citizens from terrorism

while retaining their rights to freedom. This is arguably best accomplished by legislation

targeted at a narrow set of Internet uses that are, as far as possible, exclusively associated

with illegal actions.

In this policy essay, we focus on two of Gill et al.’s (2017) main contributions. We

argue that, subject to robust independent replication, they encourage thought about the

functions of the Internet for terrorists, which in turn may have implications that offer useful

guidance for policy and practice. Alongside the article’s conceptual contributions, Gill et al.

also assert to have resolved several pragmatic challenges and we suggest ways in which their

solutions, if developed fully, could offer value to the security analyst community. Finally,

we take stock of where Gill et al.’s contribution has left us and review the next steps.

This work was part funded by the Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats (ESRC Award:

ES/N009614/1). Direct correspondence to Paul J. Taylor, Department of Psychology, Lancaster University,

Lancaster, U.K. LA1 4YF (e-mail p.j.taylor@lancaster.ac.uk).

DOI:10.1111/1745-9133.12285 C2017 American Society of Criminology 127

Criminology & Public Policy rVolume 16 rIssue 1