On 18 January 2022, PAM contributed to the closed webinar “Understanding Technological Resilience of Violent Extremist Networks”, organized by the Policy Center for the New South, in partnership with The Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET). The workshop was attended by more than 30 members of the academic community. The debate aimed at understanding new trends in online terrorist activities and the networks used for propaganda and recruitment.
During the workshop, PAM Secretary General explained the work that PAM has been doing to counterterrorism and violent extremism, and the key role of national parliaments in confronting these threats, in their legislative, oversight, and representative capacities.
He added that through the strategic partnership with the UN, PAM serves as the key platform for parliamentary engagement on counter terrorism and violent extremism in the Euro-Mediterranean and Gulf regions. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a catalyst for the evolving terrorist strategies in relation to the use of new technologies in the MENA and the Sahel regions.
PAM supports its member states in adopting practical and concrete tools to harmonize and increase the interoperability of national legal systems to face the use of IT for terrorist purposes. PAM and the UN jointly prepared the Guidelines for parliamentarians in the implementation of the “UN Global Counterterrorism Strategy”, presented in NY in 2021, and PAM promotes the use of the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime and Electronic Evidence.
The discussion ranged from the strategies being used by terrorists groups in the Sahel, where low intensity-localized conflicts are being exploited, to the capacity of terrorists to hide behind freedom of expression principles in the West. All participants agreed on the need to strengthen cross sectorial cooperation to address the terrorist threat since terrorist groups take advantage of available gaps. Panelists also underlined the necessity to balance counterterrorism legislation and initiatives with the respect of human rights, especially freedom of speech.
The Policy Center for the New South is a Moroccan think-tank aiming to contribute to the improvement of economic and social public policies that challenge Morocco and the rest of the Africa, as integral parts of the global South. PAM counts on a long lasting partnership with the Policy Center.//