UN Head Warns of “Unprecedented Threat” from Violent Extremism and Terrorism

Last week, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the world is facing “an unprecedented threat from intolerance, violent extremism and terrorism.” He added that one of the ways in which the threat is spreading and manifesting into actual incidents is via messaging between terrorist and extremist groups and their followers in online environments. “The new frontier is cyber-terrorism – the use of social media and the dark web to coordinate attacks, spread propaganda and recruit new followers,” he said. Other officials who spoke at the same meeting echoed Guterres’ concerns, with one representative noting his group’s observation that fighters who supported the Islamic State are attempting to create new strongholds abroad. He also discussed  the growing threat of these fighters accessing “radioactive and toxic substances,” as well as their “possible use of new types of financing and weapons.” Read the article at Time.