ANTI-TERROR

GROUP'S REFERRALS ROCKETING

- BY DAN WARBURTON

THE number of children exposed to online hate speech and being radicalised by far-right extremism has soared, we can reveal.

Worrying figures show a steep rise in how many children were considered vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism or violent fanaticism.

The government's Channel Programme was set up to help dissuade potential Islamist terrorists but now deals with as many youngsters at risk from the far-right. In the past nine years, the number of kids referred to it by teachers and police has rocketed from 377 to 652.

And those deemed serious enough for specific help rose by four times, from 49 to 216.

This frightening trend comes against the backdrop of a rise in activists using social media and online platforms to spread their views, including English Defence League co-founder Tommy Robinson.

Chris Phillips, the former Head of the National Counter Terrorism Security Office, said: “Much of the radicalisation of all forms has been done through the internet.

“They get themselves into an echo chamber saying the same things over and over again, and gradually people become entrenched in something.

“You need to see the other side as well and that’s the point of the Channel Programme.

“The internet is unpoliced. It needs to find a way to police it. The trouble is the whole system is set up so that if you're interested in a subject you just get fed more and more of that subject.”

Exit Hate Trust UK

M15 boss Ken McCallum