Washington: Donald Trump, the frontrunner US
Republican presidential candidate, has called for closing down
the Internet in areas controlled by the Islamic State (IS) to
prevent the terror outfit from using social media to recruit
fighters.
"I would certainly be open to closing areas where we are
at war with somebody. I sure as hell don't want to let people
that want to kill us and kill our nation use our Internet.
Yes, sir, I am," Trump, 69, said in response to a question
during a GOP presidential debate when asked if he is open to
closing parts of the Internet.
"ISIS is recruiting through the Internet. ISIS is using
the Internet better than we are using the Internet, and it was
our idea. What I wanted to do is I wanted to get our brilliant
people from Silicon Valley and other places and figure out a
way that ISIS cannot do what they're doing," Trump said.
"We should be able to penetrate the Internet and find out
exactly where ISIS is and everything about ISIS. We can do
that if we use our good people," Trump said.
However, Ohio Governor John Kasich, another Republican
presidential candidate opposed such a idea.
"Is shutting down any part of the Internet a good idea?
he was asked.
"No, I don't think it is," he said.
Senator Rand Paul said Trump's remarks on Internet shows
that he is not a serious candidate.
"Is Donald Trump a serious candidate? The reason I ask
this is, if you're going to close the Internet, realise,
America, what that entails. That entails getting rid of the
First amendment, OK? It's no small feat," he said.
Trump replied, "And as far as the Internet is concerned,
we're not talking about closing the Internet. I'm talking
about parts of Syria, parts of Iraq, where ISIS is, spotting
it."
