There has been an unprecedented 12-fold increase in hateful social media content being referred to specialist police officers since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, according to the UK’s Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit.
Once focused on propaganda shared by the Islamic State group (IS) and the fall-out online following UK-based attacks, much of the unit’s focus has shifted to assessing whether hateful and extreme social media posts breach anti-terror legislation.
The team says it has received more than 2,700 referrals from the public – shared via an online form – since Hamas attacked Israel, and Israel launched waves of air strikes on the Gaza Strip in return.
“Young Britons” are weaned on this stuff.
