Texas Republican lawmaker Joe Barton calls for social media to be 'shut down' to stop Isis

Representative Barton asked: 'Isn't there something we can do to shut those internet sites down?'

Representative Joe Barton called for certain websites to be shut down if they're used by Isis (Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)

A Republican lawmaker from Texas has suggested that the US government shut down large parts of the internet in order to fight Isis.

During a House committee hearing, Representative Joe Barton said Isis was "really trying to use the internet and all the social media to intimidate and beat us psychologically."

He added: "Isn't there something we can do to shut those internet sites down?"

Since Isis have been known to use Twitter, Facebook and even gaming services like PlaystationNetwork to communicate, shutting down these mediums would involve America somehow destroying large parts of the internet and disrupting service for over a billion people.

As the Washington Post reports, 66-year-old Barton later said that such a task would indeed be difficult, because new websites "pop up like weeds".

Nevertheless, he went on to suggest that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) shut down the offending sites, saying: "They're using the internet in an extremely offensive and inappropriate way against us."

His comments came in a period of American uncertainty over their position towards Isis - after the Islamist group carried out their largest foreign attack yet in Paris, lawmakers in the US are split over the issues of military intervention and expanding intelligence-gathering powers.

A debate has also broken out over America's acceptance of Syrian refugees - since the Paris attacks, more than half of America's state governors have announced they oppose letting refugees into their states.

Whether or not shutting down websites would be wise, the American government neither has the authority or the capability to track down and disable every single website used by Isis.