‘We must get to grips’ with online radicalisation of young people, says DPP
The Director of Public Prosecutions has warned “we must get to grips” with the online radicalising influences that young people are increasingly being drawn towards.
In a speech to the Royal United Services Institute last week, Max Hill KC said record numbers of young people were being arrested for terrorism-related offences, some of them in their very early teens.
“Police data shows that last year, 20 per cent of those arrested were aged under 18, up from four per cent in 2019,” said Mr Hill.
“With an increasing online world to contend with, we must get to grips with the radicalising influences and narratives that young and vulnerable people in particular can be drawn towards.”
Looking ahead, Mr Hill said “it remains vital that we analyse and understand the evolving threats we face”.
“The terrorist threat in the UK today is dominated by individuals or small groups acting outside of organised terrorist networks, making it less predictable and harder to identify, investigate and disrupt,” he said.
“In the UK, the primary domestic terrorist threat comes from Islamist terrorism, which accounts for approximately 67 per cent of attacks since 2018. But extreme right-wing terrorism has grown and I fear is a threat that will persist.
“And of course, the future global landscape will be further influenced by events in Ukraine.”
Mr Hill added: “We are committed to supporting Ukraine, the International Criminal Court and other jurisdictions investigating war crimes and crimes against humanity, which have occurred in Ukraine.
“Just as there must be no impunity for terrorism, the same goes for war criminals and all states should be committed to upholding international law and bringing to justice those who commit core international crimes, such as war crimes and genocide, whenever and wherever they are committed.”