Displaying items by tag: online extremism

A report by the Henry Jackson Society (HJS) suggests that ministers’ failure to ban far-right extremist groups is undermining the fight against online propaganda. Sharing the material of National Action and its spin-off terrorist groups is a terror offence punishable by up to 15 years’ imprisonment, whereas hate-filled propaganda from other groups carries far lower sentences. HJS warned that posts by non-prohibited groups may not be properly monitored or taken down by social media companies who rely on government lists of terror organisations when deciding what to remove. Islamists are jailed three times longer than some far-right extremists for online offences. HJS said, ‘The government needs to keep this situation under review in a fast-moving online world, where offending causes real and significant harm.’ Social media companies have become increasingly adept at spotting jihadi symbols and language, but progressed more slowly with the diverse range of indicators used by the far-right.