FSWC

October 13, 2006

            
‘GLOBAL VIRTUAL UNIVERSITIES OF TERRORISM’ HIGHLIGHTED IN INTERNET REPORT IN VICTORIA, BY FRIENDS OF SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER

VICTORIA, BC – OCTOBER 16, 2006 -- The number of terror and hate websites, newsgroups, blogs, chat rooms and online clubs has surged above 6,000.....representing a 20 per cent spike over last year. That’s the finding of the 2006 edition of Digital Terrorism and Hate, an interactive Report released today in Victoria, by Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies.

This is the Center’s eighth CD-ROM Report (with French and Spanish commentary), which is regarded as the most thorough global analysis and description of the state of on-line terrorism and hate-related activities.

According to Leo Adler, Friends’ Director of National Affairs, “Looking beyond the numbers, online activities have undergone a qualitative shift that present existential threats to society. The Internet has become a ‘virtual university’ for terrorists with manuals from how to build a ‘dirty bomb’ and make poisons, to tutorials on how to use global positioning devices or attack a motorcade.

“Canadian authorities certainly have shown awareness of Internet hate activities.  But the increasing promotion of weapons of mass destruction requires a more robust strategy, greater resources and more timely awareness of a rapidly changing and growing threat to Canada and the world,” added Adler.

Copies of Digital Terrorism and Hate 2006 are available free of charge to law enforcement agencies, educational institutions and the news media. 

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ABOUT FRIENDS OF SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER FOR HOLOCAUST STUDIES 
Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies is a Canadian human rights organization dedicated to fostering tolerance and understanding through community involvement, educational outreach and social action. With over 40,000 members of all faiths, it confronts important contemporary issues including racism, anti-Semitism, terrorism and genocide. Friends is affiliated with the world-wide, Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, an accredited Non-Government Organization with status at international agencies, including the United Nations, UNESCO, OSCE and the Council of Europe, with offices in New York, Miami, Paris, Jerusalem, BuenosAires, and Toronto.  Simon Wiesenthal died in 2005 after devoting his life to preserving the memories of the victims of the Holocaust, while simultaneously seeking justice for the war criminals.