Blogger, the free blog site owned by Google, is being used by Islamic militants as an easy way to anonymously publish inflamatory material on the internet.
Type the word 'jihad' in English into Google, and all the top entries are journalistic websites and anti-terrorism articles. Type the word in Arabic, however, and the very first hits are indexes of terror, not just listed by Google, but hosted by them.
For example, the fourth entry on the list is a blog kept by a self-styled 'Mujahid Muslim'. It calls itself a 'jihadi directory', featuring jihadi's personal websites, and weapons guides, with links to sites offering detailed user guides on automatic rifles.
For example, the Yugoslavian AK-SU is described as "Inadequate for orthodox warfare." The weapons are suitable "To protect yourself in travel or your possessions or your family, but for large-scale killing. No, a thousand times no," the anonymous weapons reviewer says.
The appeal of Blogger for hosting these sites is obvious. A user can set up a site in less than five minutes, without having to pay any money or give any personal details like a credit card number. And using Google's own in-house blog provider won't do any harm when it comes to getting listed on Google's search engine.
Google said in statement: "Google does not review content posted through the Blogspot.com service. If Google finds or is made aware of any sites engaging in illegal activity, we will enforce our existing terms of service and remove the content and delete accounts where necessary."
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