Claims that anonymous domain registration aid terrorists are overblown

Domain registrars are providing services that aid terrorism, claims Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail. A lengthy article published over the weekend, "Terror goes digital. With Canadian help," delves into the many different facets of the Internet that have been used by Islamic terrorist groups to communicate their messages to each other and to the rest of the world. But the "Canadian help" part of the equation comes by way of domain registrars Register.com and Tucows, which both operate out of Canada. The newspaper's assertions that these companies somehow aid terrorists with their services, however, are somewhat misguided.

The linchpin of The Globe and Mail's argument is that registrars are aiding terrorists by helping to keep them anonymous. As many of our readers know, people who register new domains now often have the option to do so without having their personal information displayed to the public through a WHOIS query. This service usually only costs a few extra dollars per year and has been applauded by privacy advocates as a way to keep a citizen's personal info private—no one needs to know who has registered those domains, they argue. But according to The Globe and Mail, the service has made it easier for terrorists to put their message out online without exposing their location or contact information.