UNSC Counter-Terrorism Committee to hold special meeting in India focused on new, emerging technologies

United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Counter-Terrorism Committee will hold a special meeting in India focused on new and emerging technologies.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Counter-Terrorism Committee will hold a special meeting in India focused on new and emerging technologies.

Mindful of the increasing threat posed by the misuse of new and emerging technologies, the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) has decided to hold a special meeting on this theme, with the support of its Executive Directorate (CTED), in India on October 29, 2022.

The special meeting will specifically focus on three significant areas where emerging technologies are experiencing rapid development and growing use by Member States including for security and counter-terrorism purposes, and increasing threat of abuse for terrorism purposes.

These three significant areas are the Internet and social media, terrorism financing, and unmanned aerial systems (UAS).

Although it does not happen frequently, this will not be the first time the Counter-Terrorism Committee meets outside of New York - but the seventh time.

The most recent special meeting of the CTC outside of United Nations headquarters took place in Madrid, Spain, in July 2015, focusing on foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs).

With the prevalence of technology and the rapid rise in digitization, the use of new and emerging technologies to counter-terrorism is a topic of growing interest among the Member States, policymakers and researchers, particularly in the context of the increasing role played by technology in terrorism and counter-terrorism.

This is addressed by the Security Council in a number of counter-terrorism-related resolutions, most recently resolution 2617 (2021), which explicitly cited "emerging technologies".

It is further addressed in the "Global survey of the implementation of Security Council resolution 1373 (2001) and other relevant resolutions by Member States", the "Technical guide to the implementation of Security Council resolution 1373 (2001) and other relevant resolutions" (S/2019/998).

The special meeting would be conducted in the six official languages of the United Nations and be open to the wider United Nations membership and other relevant stakeholders.

( With inputs from ANI )