Brussels (AFP)

Online games can be used to propagate extremist ideologies and even to prepare attacks, warns the EU coordinator for the fight against terrorism Gilles de Kerchove in an interview with AFP, advocating a European response.

While the European Commission must present on December 9 a draft legislation, the "Digital Services Act", to better regulate digital platforms and fight in particular against online hatred on social networks, games remain an "under-regulated area. ", he judges.

"I am not saying that the whole field of gambling is problematic, there are two billion people who play online and that is very good", specifies the person in charge, responsible for making proposals at European level in the fight against terrorism. .

But the Belgian points the finger at "extreme right-wing groups in Germany who have developed games of shooting Arabs, (Hungarian-American Jewish businessman George) Soros, Ms. Merkel for his migration policy, etc. ".

"This can both be a means of propagating extreme right-wing ideology, in particular, but not exclusively, a means of laundering money (...) there are currencies generated by games, and which can be exchanged for fiat currency, ”explains the 64-year-old manager, who has been in office since 2007.

“It can be a means of communication, it's encrypted, and also a way to test attack scenarios,” he adds.

The Commission should mention it in an anti-terrorism agenda that it will also present on 9 December.

- Problem of algorithms -

It is necessary to "discuss with the companies which develop these games" to see "how to tighten the mesh" to avoid these dangers, continues Gilles de Kerchove, specifying to have recently had contacts with his American counterparts who "start to work" on this subject.

The manager also calls into question the role of "amplification algorithms" of platforms such as Facebook and YouTube in the distribution of "problematic", "borderline" content.

A question that the European executive will tackle in the Digital Services Act by demanding more transparency from the digital giants.

A proposal for a regulation is also under discussion between MEPs and Member States to allow the withdrawal of terrorist content within the hour.

The fight against terrorism has returned to the top of the European agenda after the recent jihadist attacks in France and Austria.

It will be on the menu for the next summit on December 10 and 11.

Another subject of concern: police access to encrypted communications, with the rise of messaging services such as Signal, Telegram, Whatsapp.

The question raises the concerns of defenders of public freedoms and respect for private life.

"No one in Brussels wants to reduce encryption, on the contrary," assures Gilles de Kerchove, stressing in particular the importance of protecting communications from opponents or journalists in authoritarian regimes.

- Avoid a security crisis -

But "is it normal that we cannot identify who is behind an IP address that puts child pornography pictures? How to explain that the police can intercept an SMS but not the same content when it is a Whatsapp message? Where is the logical? ", he asks.

He proposes to include in the Digital Services Act "a provision providing that when the law allows it, when a judge authorizes it, (messaging) companies must be able to give the content in a readable, decrypted way, leaving these companies care to do it, ”he said.

"Because if you pass the decryption keys around, you effectively weaken the encryption."

On the same line, justice officials in the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand in October called on tech companies to allow police access. to these applications "in a readable and usable format".

The EU's "Counter Terrorism" also pleads for investment in an "innovation hub" created within Europol, intended to assess the threats posed to the security of Europeans by new technologies (robots, intelligence artificial ...) but also to "make the most of these technologies" and not to depend on third countries.

If the Covid-19 pandemic did not have a "direct consequence on terrorist activity", Gilles de Kerchove notes that a worsening of the crisis would be "conducive to radicalization".

"We must prevent this from becoming a security crisis, that we start to dry up budgets for security," he warns.

© 2020 AFP