France blocks five sites accused of condoning terrorism
March 17, 2015 04:00
France has blocked five websites accused of "condoning terrorism," the interior ministry said on Monday, the first time the French new government has used its broad new security powers since the January Paris attacks.
The banning order was given to Internet service providers, who had 24 hours to take "all necessary measures to block the listing of these addresses" under the new rules.
One of the sites al-Hayat Media Center is accused of having links to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) armed group, the ministry said. The site islamic-news.info has also been blocked since the end of last week, broadcaster France24 reported. Users trying to reach the site find a message that reads, "You are being redirected to this official website since your computer was about to connect with a page that provokes terrorist acts or condones terrorism publicly."
The new government powers were introduced as part of a package of security laws that were approved by parliament in November 2014 and took effect in February.
Critics argued that the latest measures could breach citizens' rights by bypassing the need for a judge to issue the banning orders. Octave Klaba, who founded the company that hosts Islamic-news.info, said in a message posted on Twitter that he wasn't informed of the government's action, and called the measure a "nuclear bomb," according to France24.
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