Germany cracks down terror Web sites

Germany plans to change its law to crack down on Web sites it says have become vehicles for radical Islamists to promote their causes.

The Deutsche Welle says since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, the number of Internet sites promoting violent jihad have soared.

The report says German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble has identified the Internet as a "textbook" for terrorists. He says manuals on bomb making are being made available online. Currently, Internet service providers are not legally required to block users or remove content.

"There are enough reports from the police, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and news services that say that the Internet is the most popular medium for communication between Islamic groups," Bernd Carstensen, acting chairman of the Federal Alliance of German Detectives, told Deutsche Welle.

Experts estimate there are about 5,000 Islamist Web sites but this does not include several thousand chat rooms in which terrorist groups and individuals keep in contact with each other, the report said.

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