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Obama Wants Tech to Help Crack Down on Terrorists Online

President Barack Obama urged Silicon Valley to 'make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice.'
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In the wake of the Paris attacks and San Bernardino shooting, President Barack Obama urged Silicon Valley to "make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice."

The comments came during a televised speech on Sunday night in which he called for tighter gun laws and continued support for military campaigns against ISIS, also known as ISIL.

He warned that "as groups like ISIL grew stronger" and "the Internet erases the distance between countries," the U.S. is seeing "growing efforts by terrorists to poison the minds of people like the Boston Marathon bombers and the San Bernardino killers."

To combat the terrorist threat, Obama said he "will urge high-tech and law enforcement leaders to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice."

It's not clear exactly what those efforts would entail. But several federal officials, most notably FBI Director James Comey, have called for "back doors" into encrypted messaging apps that would give law enforcement access to terrorist communications.

Related: Tech Industry Coalition Defies Calls for Weakened Encryption

Tech companies have argued that such access will compromise the security of their software, making it easier for hackers and foreign governments to spy on private messages and data. Companies such as Facebook, Google and Twitter all have policies in place for removing pro-terrorist content.

Telegram, an encrypted app that was criticized for allowing users to share ISIS-related messages, recently cracked down on channels tied to the terrorist group.