The September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States have contributed greatly to a change in the information environment around the world. The weeks following the attacks saw governments around the world rush to pass legislation designed to prevent future acts of terrorism. Much of this legislation targeted information flow, especially on the Internet, in the hope that closer scrutiny of communications traffic would enable security forces to identify possible terrorist action and stop potential atrocities before they occur. While a desire to safeguard law-abiding citizens is not to be dismissed lightly, there is a suspicion that much legislation passed following the attacks consisted of security forces' wishlists from previous years, and that a lot of the measures were rushed through without in depth consideration of the implications for civil liberties. The library community has had much to consider following the passing of the so-called "Anti-terror" acts around the world, and the role of libraries as providers of free, equal and unhampered access to information has been restricted since September 11th. (Contains 24 references.) (Author)