Source: HRO.org (info), 07/07/11 

· Security Services  · Moscow City and Moscow Region 

Lately it has become a tradition and “the done thing” for Russia's siloviki to take any opportunity to lash out at the Internet and present it as a grave threat. Most recently, FSB Director Aleksandr Bortnikov declared that international terrorism has been making active use of media and the Internet. 

“For some time now the majority of international terrorist organisations have been carrying out their activities independently of al-Qaida and bin Laden. Their leaders have been making active use of media and the Internet in order to raise their profile,” Aleksandr Bortnikov, director of the FSB, said, opening a meeting of the heads of the FSB and other security services and law enforcement agencies. 

"That is where the real war for the hearts and minds of ordinary citizens, especially young people, is going on. The Internet has turned into a universal instrument for terrorists, which they use to attract, recruit and train new members, and to plan and coordinate terrorist activities. International terrorist organisations are making use of the latest advances in technology, particularly information and communication technologies. That is why the question of how to counter the radicalization of the population and the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes has been on the agenda of our meetings for the past three years,” he added. [Read more]