Republican Representative August Pfluger of Texas, chairman of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence at the Department of Homeland Security, and Democratic Representative Jimmy Panetta of California have introduced a bill that would “provide for annual assessments of the terrorist threat to the United States from terrorist organizations that use foreign cloud-based mobile or desktop messaging applications, and for other purposes.”
Pfluger said that more than 20 years after the Sept. 11 attacks, cloud-based technology has “given terrorist groups even more tools in their quest for deadly chaos.”
“Foreign-controlled apps like TikTok and encrypted messaging platforms like Telegram have shed a disturbing light on the lengths to which America’s enemies will go to attack our way of life and radicalize young people with violent extremist ideology, as well as the terrifying impact of their grotesque messages when spread on platforms with nearly unlimited reach,” he said in a statement.
“Given the increasing threat posed by terrorist organizations around the world – particularly as we saw just last October in the devastating terrorist attack in Israel – DHS must take steps to assess and address this threat before it is too late,” Pfluger added.
Panetta said that “advances in overseas messaging via the cloud” bring new challenges in the fight against terrorism.
“This bipartisan bill would ensure that the Department of Homeland Security adequately monitors these vulnerabilities and assesses the threats they pose to our national security,” he said. “A better understanding of terrorist network communications is essential to preventing future attacks.”
