UK Has Biggest Online Audience In Europe For Jihadist Propaganda

More people in the UK are consuming online jihadist content than in any other European country, according to a new report.

Researchers found that Britain has the fifth-biggest audience for extremist content in the world - after Turkey, the US, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

The report by Policy Exchange describes trying to disrupt the spread of jihadist content as like ‘whack-a-mole’ due to the consistent propaganda production rate and failing counter-measures.

Analysts have given a conservative estimate that Islamic State produces 100 new online propaganda items per week. Content is said to include such things as bomb-making instructions and execution videos.

General David Petraeus, the former US commander in Iraq and CIA director wrote the forward for the report. He highlighted the recent Parsons Green attack in London and the ‘inadequate’ efforts in combating online extremism:

“The attempted bombing of an underground train in London last Friday – using a device that can be built from instructions available online – merely underscore once again the ever-present nature of this threat.”

He wrote: "There is no doubting the urgency of this matter. The status quo clearly is unacceptable."

The 131-page assessment details that the online decline of Islamic State has been ‘overstated’.

Despite big military defeats in Iraq and Syria they still have a ‘vast ecosystem’ that has evolved from using Facebook, Twitter and Youtube to heavily encrypted apps such as Telegramm.

Telegramm boasts such security that the company went so far as to offer $300,000 to anyone who could hack a chat that been written under their ‘secret’ feature.  The report describes the app as a ‘safe haven’ for jihadists due to such features.

Even with the UK having the largest audience for Islamic State material online, key findings show overwhelming public support for new legislation countering online extremism.

73% of people polled support laws that would criminalise persistent searching, reading, viewing and being in possession of content that glorifies terror.

It was also suggested that the UK public would welcome an independent regulator that monitors all online content, similar to OfCom for television.

The majority of those polled (66%) believe that the internet should be a regulated space in which extremist material is controlled; only 25% feel that it should be “completely free” without any limits of free speech.

Lead author Dr Martyn Frampton warned:

"The evidence suggests that we are not winning the war against online extremism.

"If the internet companies won't do what their customers want and take more responsibility for removing this content, then government must take action through additional regulation and legislation."

The report comes ahead of Prime Minister Theresa May’s meeting with French Presiden Emmanuel Macron in which they will discuss possible new measure to tackle the netwar.

Possible actions are to include fining tech companies who do not make an effort to combat online extremism.

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