Children are at a higher threat of being radicalised by extremists than ever earlier than, counter-terrorism police have warned.
Police chiefs warned of a “conveyer belt” main children in direction of extremism on-line.
Children as younger as 12 have been arrested for terrorism offences.
It comes as new Home Office figures revealed some 40% of the 6,922 referrals to the Government’s deradicalisation programme – Prevent – have been individuals aged between 11 and 15.
The variety of individuals being referred to Prevent for suspected Islamist views remains to be sharply under the variety of instances being investigated by MI5, the statistics present.
The Head of Counter Terrorism Policing, Assistant Commissioner Matt Jukes, stated: “The technology companies making vast amounts of money from children on their platforms must invest in making those platforms safer. Parents need to take a more active role in their children’s online lives.
“Law enforcement must work closely with our respective Governments to ensure we have robust legislation in place to protect people, and strengthen our ability to go after criminals operating online.
“My Five Eyes colleagues and I are calling the alarm globally about the risk to our children, and every single one of us has a role to play in the collective response we need to reduce that threat.”
Britain, America, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, dubbed the Five Eyes intelligence partnership, have issued its first public paper calling for a ‘whole society response’ towards a selected risk – the radicalisation of kids in direction of violent extremism.
Titled ‘Young People and Violent Extremism: A Call for Collective Action’ – the paper warns of a rising prevalence of kids being drawn into violent extremism globally.
Assistant Commissioner Jukes added: “Since 2020, Counter Terrorism Policing has been warning of the growing numbers of children being arrested in relation to terrorism offences.
“Last year we arrested more children than we ever have before, some as young as 12 years old.
“This is not a phenomenon unique to the UK, our colleagues across the world are dealing with the exact same problem and in many cases we are seeing the influence of the same extremist networks reach across all of the Five Eyes countries.
“For all the benefits it brings, the internet has also globalised extremism, accelerated the spread of hateful ideologies internationally, and made it possible for anyone with an internet connection to reach into the lives of children halfway round the world.
“This is not a problem which can be fixed by law enforcement or security agencies.
“We offer an important last line of defence and will continue to do that, internationally. But with my international colleagues, we are calling for a wider response that reaches the whole of society.”
The Home Office stated 1,314 individuals have been reported for Extreme right-wing views, whereas Islamist issues accounted for 913, or 13% of referrals.
Officials stated it’s the first time since 2020 that the variety of referrals of suspected extremist Islamist views has elevated.
But the determine is way decrease than the 75% of terrorism instances being investigated by MI5, prompting fears Prevent just isn’t match for function.
Tom Wilson is Director of Policy on the Counter Extremism Group stated: “The Prevent referral numbers suggest that the same problems warned about by Sir William Shawcross in his review are present in the programme.
“This is a scheme that is supposed to stop the radicalisation of individuals into terrorism and supporting terrorism.
“Yet these referrals show that far too many people are being referred to this counter-terrorism scheme despite having nothing to do with terrorism or terrorist ideology.
“The public will want to know why Prevent continues to refer so many people who aren’t proponents of the ideas that motivate terrorists.”
Tory MP Nick Timothy advised the Daily Express: “These statistics give additional trigger for concern about the best way the Prevent programme is being run.
“We know from MI5 that 75 per cent of its counter-terrorism work relies on the risk from Islamism.
“We know MI5 say the risk from Al Qaeda and Islamic State. And we all know most convicted terrorists in jail are Islamists.
“A preventative programme within the nation’s counter-terrorism technique must be centered on the risk we face.”
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1985116/Terror-extremism-children-radicalised