Misuse of information communication technology and its influence on terrorism in ASEAN cooperation context

The leap from the traditional way of communication into the sophisticated Information Communication Technology (ICT) in this current digital era has become a phenomenal trend for any society and organisation. The global advancement of technology and the availability of the Information Technology (IT) infrastructure have made the Internet accessible by almost everyone, anywhere and anytime. Although this development has generally brought positive impacts in terms of communication and transmission of information, much has been discussed on its possible drawbacks when abused. The Internet factor has become one of the reasons for the rise of radicalisation activities in the last decade.Nonetheless, little if any, has been openly discussed on the specific use of IT infrastructure by certain groups of terrorists as a platform to propagate their ideology through their websites or blogs, recruit new members through social networking, and organise activities remotely via virtual setup. 9-11 and Bali bombing attacks are two incidents that wake the world. ASEAN nations have become an attraction for terrorists to execute their attacks, propagate their ideology and recruit new members. This research, thus, intends to critically analyse the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) strategic role in addressing the issues and challenges on the phenomenon of combating terrorism. The trend of using the Internet to propel the terrorism agenda has been spotted by many researchers and ‘watchdog’ organisations. Technological challenges on the Internet require a new way of thinking about designing and constructing new ASEAN’s policy. The ASEAN Convention on Counter-Terrorism 2007 (ACCT) is the initiative taken by ASEAN to move forward in addressing the current issue and formulating future multilateral cooperation. This policy has stirred arguments on the objectives to prepare state security rather than human security. To justify the importance of addressing human security, this research focuses on the issues and challenges in constructing policies and regulations in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. The level of readiness and commitment to respond to any crisis of terrorism in the South East Asian Region are the critical measurements. This research hence attempts to review and analyse the current policies, multilateral security cooperation, policy implementation impact, and future direction of ASEAN. The research is conducted in empirical nature involving interviews from the selected population sample in ASEAN regions such as ASEAN secretariat officers, ASEANPOL, states police, Malaysia Communication and Multimedia Commissions (MCMC), and Cyber Security of Malaysia. The findings of the survey may become a prelude in formulating a new human security policy, which could act as points of reference or new research for academic researchers and practitioners.