The CTC, day 2
By Eliza Maria Niculescu
The Counter Terrorism committee started off their day with a moderated caucus on the topic of social media platforms being used to promote terrorism.
Egypt chose to emphasize the fact that the internet can also be used to prevent terrorist actions, and also educate people on the topic. Saudi Arabia immediately intervened, using ISIS as an example: since they have access to social media, it only makes sense that they would use it to promote it.
Next up was the delegate of Russia, who gave a powerful speech about their censorship law. They declared that they were not going to accept any criticism on this system. They presented a statistic, which according to, only 1/3 people in Russia were met with fake news. This means that the censorship law does not affect the citizens negatively, instead it protects them. Later, with the same passion and spirit, the delegate put emphasis on the Russian government’s wish to prioritise the safety of their people. They followed by saying that the censorship law prevents terrorist videos from appearing on social media.
Of course, the USA quickly disagreed with Russia, stating that their citizens are not able to express themselves freely, like Americans can. In the end, both countries concluded that they will not be able to come to an agreement any time soon, so the problem discussed should be solved internationally. Russia urged other countries to see the bigger picture, since they are not the only country which has problems with terrorism.
Israel suggested that, instead of countries fighting censorship of terrorism, they should rather focus on uncovering coded messages terrorists use to communicate. When the UK asked about their involvement in this process, the delegate said that the Israeli Intelligent Services have helped with this problem quite a lot in the past.
The topic changed to finding a solution to combat terrorism. Kazahstan reminded everyone that Yemen was called the “worst humanitarian crisis”, and also argued that it has no military solution: it’s better to focus on helping the people. Russia gave a speech in which they declared that “the delegate of the USA doesn’t understand the concept of approval, as neither their president does.” USA’s delegate said that they were disappointed in Russia’s speech: they offered humanitarian aid in Syria, as well as Yemen. When they demanded an apology, Russia simply replied: “We are sorry that the statement that was proven to be true before offended you”. Oddly, USA’s delegate accepted this reply.
The committee also received a special delegate for France. In his opening speech, the delegate declared that their country is eager to “get rid of the rats that are spreading the plague all over the world”, referring to eradicating terrorism and condemning Russia for supporting such organisations. When the end of the session came by, the chair allowed him to talk again, saying that “We are having a speech from the delegate of France since he’s limited edition.” In the end, it seems that the CTC committee does have a few jokes up their sleeves!
The session ended with some praise from the chair to the delegates who final warmed up and started talking and debating more. Unsurprisingly, USA’s and Russia’s delegates were exhausted, having fought over every single topic available to the committee. Who knows what tomorrow will bring for these two feisty delegates? We can only wait and see.
