Home Office urges public to report terror websites

01 Feb 10

Home Secretary Alan Johnson has provided members of the public with information about what they can do if they come across violent, extremist, terrorist or hate-related content online

By Brian Sims

The Home Office has arranged for a dedicated webpage on Directgov to include a form for people who want to report suspected terror-related and violent extremist websites to the police.

The Government’s pilot scheme aims to make the Internet a more hostile environment for terrorists and violent extremists who are seeking to exploit modern technology as a communication medium.

If a website meets the threshold for illegal content, officers can exercise powers to take it down under Section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2006.

What can be reported?

Illegal terrorism content

Any information that’s intended to be useful to terrorists is illegal, including:

bomb-making instructions
guides to making poisons
instructions on how to make weapons
guides to potential terrorist targets
Illegal violent extremist content

Some violent extremist content is also illegal. This might include:

videos of beheadings with messages of ‘glorification’ or praise for the attackers
speeches or essays calling for racial or religious violence
messages intended to stir up hatred against any religious or ethnic group
chat forums with postings calling for people to commit acts of terrorism

Illegal hate content

The content of a website is illegal when it threatens or harasses a person or a group of people because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or gender identity. That could be in words, pictures, videos, and even music.

Illegal hate content might include:

messages calling for racial or religious violence
web pages that show pictures, videos or descriptions of violence against people due to their race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity
chat forums where people ask other people to commit hate crimes

Seeking to remove unlawful content

Speaking about the move, security minister Lord West commented: “We want to protect people who may be vulnerable to violent extremist content, and will seek to remove any unlawful material.”

He continued: “This is also about empowering individuals to tell them how they can make a civic challenge against material that they find offensive, even if it isn’t illegal. The Internet is not a lawless forum, and as such should reflect the legal and accepted boundaries of society.”

Review of control orders report published

News of the Internet crackdown comes on the same day that Lord Carlile, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, has published his fifth annual report on the operation of the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005.

The 2005 Act allows for the Home Secretary to make control orders on individuals suspected of being involved with terrorism-related activity. Control orders are an important tool to deal with suspected terrorists who cannot be prosecuted or deported.

In his report, Lord Carlile maintains that the control order regime remains viable and necessary, and concludes he would have reached the same decision as the Secretary of State in each case in which a control order was made in 2009.

In the report Lord Carlile concludes: “As the independent reviewer of terror legislation, it’s my view and advice that abandoning the control orders system entirely would have a damaging effect on national security. There is no better means of dealing with the serious and continuing risk posed by some individuals.”

The Security Institute’s president adds: “I have considered whether control orders can or should be replaced by something else, or even renamed. I have been unable to find, or devise, a suitable alternative for the important residue of cases that cannot be dealt with by prosecution…”

The Home Secretary responds

In response to Lord Carlile’s missive, Home Secretary Alan Johnson said: “Control orders remain an important mechanism for dealing with a small number of suspected terrorists who cannot be prosecuted or deported. I’m grateful to Lord Carlile for his detailed report, which we will consider carefully and respond to in due course.”

A copy of the full report is available on the Home Office’s website (click on the link provided on the right hand panel of this page)