Police chiefs have warned of a growing number of young extremists (Image: Getty)
Children are at a greater risk of being radicalised by extremists than ever before, counter-terrorism police have warned.
Police chiefs warned of a “conveyer belt” leading youngsters towards extremism online.
Children as young 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 – were people aged between 11 and 15.
The number of people being referred to Prevent for suspected Islamist views is still sharply below the number of cases being investigated by MI5, the statistics show.
The Head of Counter Terrorism Policing, Assistant Commissioner Matt Jukes, said: “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’ against a specific threat – the radicalisation of children towards violent extremism.
Titled ‘Young People and Violent Extremism: A Call for Collective Action’ – the paper warns of a growing prevalence of children 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 said 1,314 people were reported for Extreme right-wing views, while Islamist concerns accounted for 913, or 13% of referrals.
Officials said it is the first time since 2020 that the number of referrals of suspected extremist Islamist views has increased.
But the figure is far lower than the 75% of terrorism cases being investigated by MI5, prompting fears Prevent is not fit for purpose.
Tom Wilson is Director of Policy at the Counter Extremism Group said: “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 told the Daily Express: “These statistics give further cause for concern about the way the Prevent programme is being run.
“We know from MI5 that 75 per cent of its counter-terrorism work is based on the threat from Islamism.
“We know MI5 say the threat from Al Qaeda and Islamic State. And we know most convicted terrorists in prison are Islamists.
“A preventative programme in the country’s counter-terrorism strategy needs to be focused on the threat we face.”