Abstract:
Terror attacks have steadily increased in correlation with increasing internet penetration rates and social media usage for over a decade. This correlation is not mere coincidence, as literature cites terrorist organizations’ increasing use of the internet and social media for communication, financing, planning, recruitment, and execution of attacks. Stemming from this evidence, it would seem logical that enacting more restrictive internet policies could either deter or possibly prevent the planning, funding, and execution of terror attacks. However, no empirical research or theoretical consensus exists on whether international governments’ increased efforts to create more restrictive internet policies could be an effective counterterrorism strategy. This thesis uses data from the Global Terrorism Database and Freedom House’s “Freedom on the Net” reports to analyze 65 countries from 2011 to 2016. I use a two-stage least squares instrumental variables regression to identify whether there is a direct causal relationship between a country’s more restrictive internet policies and a decrease in the incidence or magnitude of terror attacks. I find no significant correlational or causational relationships between a country’s internet freedom score and the incidence or magnitude of terror attacks.
