The Chilling Effect of Government Surveillance Programs on the Use of the Internet by Muslim- Americans

Terrorism Extremism

Al-Qaeda used the Internet to covertly plan and execute the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and each of its subsequent terrorist plots. As the Internet became a vital tool for Muslim extremists, it also became a target of government surveillance measures. In particular, the government developed and utilized several programs to monitor Internet usage and gather relevant electronic evidence about terrorist threats.