Is the internet a hotbed of terrorist activity, or is it a convenient excuse for more intrusive state snooping? Stewart Mitchell investigates. It's accused of aiding widespread terrorist recruitment and radicalisation here in the UK. It's helped to train bomb makers and coordinate the efforts of extremists. It's so dangerous that leaving it unmonitored would "be a licence to kill people" according to former Defence Secretary and government minister Geoff Hoon. This malevolent force isn't an Al-Qaeda splinter group or radical cleric, it's the internet: a weapon so powerful that the Government plans to spend £2 billion to keep a close eye on what it's up to - or rather, what we're up to when we're using it.
