New joint report with terror tsar calls for tighter rules to stop spread of hate online
Extremists who turn young people to terrorism are operating with impunity in the UK because of a “gaping chasm” in the law, the UK’s former counter-terror chief has said.
In a report to be presented to ministers, Sir Mark Rowley said the UK’s laws were so ill-defined that hate preachers such as Anjem Choudary had been able to get away with recruiting hundreds of young people to terrorism without being prosecuted and were still able to do so.
He cited cases of how extremists could use social media to glorify terrorism by Islamic State (IS) murderers and evade prosecution as long as they avoided “encouraging the commission, preparation, or instigation of acts of terrorism”.
