Jan Jambon wants to hire 20 more staff to monitor radical islamic posts
The Belgian police force wants to hire 20 extra staff to monitor radical islamist propaganda on the internet, local media reported Monday.
The federal police division — the Internet Referral Unit — monitoring such online traffic currently has 10 officers, but Interior Minister Jan Jambon said he wants to increase that figure to 30, Belgian daily Het Nieuwsblad reported.
The unit was set up by Jambon in January to monitor online radicalization. When officers discover a message containing radical points of view, the author is contacted and asked to remove the offending post. “If that person does not delete the message, a magistrate can order the police to have it deleted,” Jambon’s spokesperson told the newspaper.
In 2014, more than 46,000 Twitter profiles were linked to Islamic State, according to a study by the Brookings Institute, a think tank.
However, several members of the Belgian parliament have expressed concern about the legality of the police operation, because its staff use pseudonyms. According to its opponents that makes it an undercover operation, which would need the backing of a magistrate. But Jambon’s office said the unit is completely legal.
politico.eu
