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French President, Nicolas Sarkozy announced late last week that his government will make visiting websites that advocate terrorism or hate a crime, punishable by fines or even prison.

“From now on, any person who habitually consults web sites that advocate terrorism or that call for hatred and violence will be criminally punished,” Sarkozy said in a televised address after police shot dead an al Qaeda-inspired gunman who had killed seven people.

France will not tolerate forced recruitment or ideological indoctrination on its soil,” Sarkozy said, adding that an enquiry would be launched into whether prisons were being used to propagate extremism in France.

The President did not elaborate how French authorities intended to enforce this proposed law, which implies a massive security architecture policing French users’ activities on the web, as well as a comprehensive typology of what exactly comprises a “hate” website.

[Source: Reuters]