Progressive Vision: Internet clampdown unworkable

Government plans to act against websites spreading extremist propaganda are an "incoherent recipe for disaster", liberal thinktank Progressive Vision has warned.

Communications director Mark Littlewood warns of difficulties in defining what constitutes extremism and says it will be hard for security services to shut down sites outside British jurisdiction.

He asked: "Will web-based message boards that flippantly say someone deserves to die be ripped down by MI5? Will internet discussions about the use of political violence be deemed unacceptable? Will these new laws be used principally against Muslims?

"The idea that terrorism can be thwarted by seeking to shut down extremist websites is absurd and dangerous."