Youngsters Exposed to Radicalisation on Social Media

In the first week of 2024, the BBC has reported statistics from the UK`s Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit which reveal an unprecedented 12-fold increase in hateful social media posts being referred to specialist police officers since Hamas attacked Israel on 7th October 2023.

Those specialist officers are now largely focused on assessing whether hateful and extreme social media posts breach anti-terror legislation. According to the BBC, the team says it has received more than 2,700 referrals from the public since the Hamas attack.

Of major concern are the algorithms used by social media platforms to send more posts to users on topics which they have viewed previously. This often leads to viewing more extreme posts and thus can prompt radicalisation, especially with young people who may be unaware of why they are being shown just one perspective on a topic.

Police officers in the team described a real “intensification” in hate, especially from “youngsters” who they perceive to behave in a reckless way online. Matt Jukes is head of Counter Terror Policing. He says:

“The people who in the past needed to seek this material out are getting it pushed to them … [Before] you had to go to a place or sites and forums and now material which certainly might meet a definition of hateful extremism is being driven to them.”

Officers say the period from 7th October stands out because of the “sustained volume” of content, mostly directed at Israelis and Jews. The police are focusing on terrorism-related posts that might lead to physical violence or risk radicalising others into terror ideologies. They are looking for extreme posts that are shared repeatedly, rather than single posts.

You can read the full article here: bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67884785