It’s happening here in France. A report in the free commuter newspaper in Lyon this morning recounted the arrest of a guy who had watched videos of decapitations (I presume ISIS-produced). Perhaps he downloaded the video, but likely he just viewed it online.
People often say 'downloading' and 'viewing online' are the same because technologically there isn't much to differentiate the two. We could start saying 'he saved the files on his computer' vs 'watched it online'. That way the difference in intent is more clear. Saving the files on your harddisk so you can look at them later and building up a collection of ISIS videos should be considered different from looking at the same videos online.
I don't understand, what's the difference in intent?
Do you think it should be illegal to save a collection of isis videos?
No. I am just saying there is a difference that is often ignored in order to make people seem more guilty or untrustworthy.