David Cameron Wants New Anti-Terror Laws In Cyberspace After Paris Charlie Hebdo Attacks

A week after the terrorist attack on the office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris, the British government called for a new anti-terror law in cyberspace.

British Prime Minister David Cameron pushed for the passage of new laws on the Internet that would deny terrorists of any "safe space to communicate" online.

In his proposed legislation, Cameron said British intelligence agencies should have the legal power to break into the encrypted communications of suspected terrorists to help prevent attacks similar to what happened in Paris last week.

"In extremis, it has been possible to read someone's letter, to listen to someone's call, to mobile communications ... The question remains: are we going to allow a means of communications where it simply is not possible to do that?" Cameron asked.

"My answer to that question is: no, we must not. The first duty of any government is to keep our country and our people safe," he said after giving a speech on the economy in Nottingham, the Guardian reported.

Cameron's statement appears to send a bad signal for online messaging services like Whatsapp and Snapchat, which may face a ban should Cameron introduce a slew of new legislation within the first year of his second term in Downing Street, granted that Conservatives win the election.

Several messaging services like Snapchat, Apple's iMessage, WhatsApp, and Viber among others, encrypt messages sent through their applications.

Cameron's statement came days after a warning from Andrew Parker that the intelligence agencies are in danger of losing the ability to monitor "dark places" on the web.

Parker is the current director-general of British Security Service, which provides the domestic security and counter-intelligence service in the United Kingdom.

Cameron's proposal also aims to provide a new legal framework for Britain's intelligence agencies to crack the communications of terror suspects if there was specific intelligence of an imminent attack.

The prime minister promised to ensure there would be what officials describe as "no no-go areas" on the net where terrorists can hide.

British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg immediately criticized Cameron, who initially stood up for freedom of expression when he attended the rally in Paris on Sunday before advocating putting new restrictions to the same freedom.

"The irony appears to be lost on some politicians who say in one breath that they will defend freedom of expression and then in the next advocate a huge encroachment on the freedom of all British citizens," Clegg said in a speech delivered before to the Journalists' Charity at the Irish embassy on Monday night.