President Donald Trump said he wants to shut off internet access for suspected terrorist organizations in a series of tweets Friday morning, just hours after an explosion rocked London’s underground transportation system.
“Loser terrorists must be dealt with in a much tougher manner,” the president wrote early Friday. “The internet is their main recruitment tool which we must cut off and use better!”
Loser terrorists must be dealt with in a much tougher manner.The internet is their main recruitment tool which we must cut off & use better!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2017
The president also said the only way to cut down on terrorist attacks sponsored by groups like the Islamic State is to be “proactive and nasty,” according to a tweet.
We have made more progress in the last nine months against ISIS than the Obama Administration has made in 8 years.Must be proactive & nasty!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2017
The explosion occurred at 8:20 a.m. local time in London, according to the New York Times.
“This was a detonation of an improvised explosive device,” assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said during a news conference on Friday.
At least 18 commuters were sent to the hospital due to injuries sustained in the resulting chaos.
“The train was packed, and I was down the other side of the carriage standing up, looking at my phone and then I heard a big boom and felt this heat on my face,” local resident Natalie Belford told the Times. “I ran for my life, but there was no way out. The doors were full of people and the carriage was too packed to move down.”
Only a handful of countries have so far used control of the internet as a way to suppress insurrection or terrorism. Governments in Syria, Egypt, The Sudan, and Venezuela all initiated a near-instant internet shut down during times of extreme political turmoil. Other larger states like China maintain regular control of who has access to what kind of internet.
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