The Internet is sometimes used by certain groups, factions or individuals as a medium for the promotion of terrorism and/or extremist ideologies.
In recognition of this fact, the Government has launched a widespread and bold campaign urging members of the public to challenge and report any extremist or terrorist content they detect online and which they believe to be offensive and/or illegal.
For clarity’s sake, the Terrorism Acts of 2000 and 2006 made it illegal to:
- harbour or share information that could be useful to terrorists
- share information that urges people to commit or help with acts of terrorism
- glorify or praise terrorism
Examples of what makes terrorist or extremist content illegal are:
- speeches or essays calling for racial or religious violence
- videos of violence with messages of praise for the attackers
- chat forums with postings calling for people to commit acts of terrorism
- messages intended to stir up hatred against any religious or ethnic group
- instructions on how to manufacture weapons, poisons or bombs
Reporting illegal content to the police
If you come across terrorist or extremist content online that you think might be illegal, let the police know via the dedicated Home Office online tool (https://reporting.direct.gov.uk/). This link can be found on the right hand panel of this page.
All reports are anonymous, and should only take a few minutes to complete. All you need is the web address (aka the URL) of the website in question.
It’s also a good idea to report any content you feel may be illegal to the website administrator, service provider or hosting company. In this way, you increase the chances of removing the offending content.
UK laws are written to make sure that people can speak and write freely without being sent to prison for their views. That being so, a lot of hateful or violent website content is not actually illegal.
However, most websites live by what are known as ‘acceptable use policies’ that set out what kind of material can and cannot be added to a given site. Most sites don’t allow comments, videos or photos that offend or hurt people, and will remove such content if it breaches their policies.
Many websites make it simple for you to complain about a page or video. Look out for the Contact Us page, which should be clearly linked. Others will have a Report This Page button that you can click on. Some social networking websites also boast Promoting Terrorism referral flags.
Hosting companies provide a place where the website sits, and often have rules about what they are willing to host. Members of the public are urged to let hosting companies know they’re hosting websites deemed to be causing offence.
Finding out which company hosts a website is easy. Just enter the web address on the ‘Who is hosting this?’ site (http://www.whoishostingthis.com/). Again, that link is provided on the right hand panel of this page.
Reporting illegal hate content
Hate crimes are motivated by hatred of a person’s disability, race, religion, sexual orientation or transgender identity. In reality, such crimes may be committed against a person or property.
You can report a hate crime, or hate content you find online, using the following link: http://www.report-it.org.uk/home (again, we’ve provided a dedicated click through on the right hand panel of this page)
Security minister Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones said: “In this digital age it’s vital that the threat of online extremism and the increase in terrorist content on the internet is taken very seriously. I would urge anyone who may come across extremist websites and content to take action and report it through the Directgov webpage or directly to the administrator or hosting company.”
The minister added: “Referrals through the Directgov web page allow the Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit to act with the help of the Internet industry and to work with the public to remove unlawful and unacceptable terrorist-related material to obstruct terrorist exploitation of the Internet.”
Websites reported to Directgov via the online form are passed on to the national Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit. There, the specialist team of police experts within the Association of Chief Police Officers work with industry and partners in the UK and abroad to investigate and take down illegal or offensive material if and when neccessary.
Detective chief inspector Jayne Snelgrove (head of the Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit) explained: “While the Internet makes a positive contribution to most people’s lives on a daily basis, it can be and is being used by criminals and terrorists. Policing within the environment of the Internet is a relatively new area, but we’re aiming to make it a more hostile place for people who use it for criminal purposes.”
Snelgrove continued: “The Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit is focused on material which is used for terrorist purposes or to promote extremist messages that radicalise vulnerable people. Much of what is referred to us by the public may not breach the law. However, we are best placed to conduct that assessment, and it’s important that we know the scale and range of material available to the public.”
Success stories to date are as follows:
In the last 12 months alone, reporting through Directgov has helped the Government remove content which has included videos of beheadings, terrorist training manuals and calls for racial or religious violence. Some of the success stories to date include:
- removal of a number of videos encouraging martyrdom operations that had been uploaded to a UK-based website
- shutting down a website that provided detailed video instructions on bomb making
- removing a number of videos encouraging acts of terrorism from a social networking site
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