SINGAPORE— With the majority of radical websites and social media messages hosted on servers in the United States, US Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Richard Stengel yesterday found himself defending America’s stance of upholding the freedoms of religion and expression, including “the speech that we hate”, in response to questions on why the US authorities are not doing more to clamp down on such communications.

… Mr Stengel was among the panellists during a discussion at the East Asia Summit Symposium on Religious Rehabilitation and Social Integration.

Fellow panellist Professor Rohan Gunaratna, from the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore, asked Mr Stengel why the US could not “take a tough position”. “Unless you address this, everyday there will be sympathisers and supporters of terrorist groups,” he said, to applause from the audience.