The UK is facing a “smouldering” terrorism threat, with children as young as 10 accessing violent online content, a senior counterterrorism official has warned.

Vicki Evans, Deputy Assistant Commissioner and Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, stated that there has been a sharp rise in the number of terror suspects influenced by “extreme violence” and a “steady stream” of young people being impacted by harmful online material. Some of these individuals could go on to carry out “horrific acts.”

The Internet’s Role in Modern Radicalization

Since 2017, police and security services have stopped 43 advanced terror plots, with three disrupted in the past year alone. Some of these were prevented in the final stages. The UK’s official terrorism threat level remains substantial, meaning an attack is likely. Counter Terrorism Policing is a national network across UK police forces set up to prevent and investigate terrorism.

Speaking at Scotland Yard after taking on her national role this year, DAC Evans warned that police were finding “disturbing content” in the search histories of individuals, which was being accessed “easily and quickly” online. She explained that this material includes violent, sexist, and racist content, as well as extreme pornography, information about school shootings, and “incel” culture. 

This “mix of horrors” is often combined with terrorist content, with the threat of “self-radicalized terrorists” influenced by online materials. “These disturbing fascinations with violence and harmful beliefs are becoming more common,” she told reporters.

After the briefing, she told the reporters that tech companies had a duty to assist counter-terrorism police by providing access to such material. She called for a “whole system approach,” stressing the need to focus on “high-risk areas” where terrorist activity needs to be carefully monitored to keep the threat under control.

AC Evans also mentioned that the three foiled terrorist attacks in the last year included extreme right-wing plots. Detectives had been surprised by the “scale and speed” of activity, she said. 

Radical extremism remains counterterrorism policing’s biggest concern. The ongoing rise of extremist ideology in Israel about the attacks in Palestine is another area of worry for counter-terrorism bodies.

“History shows that instability creates opportunities for extremism, violence, and terrorism,” she said. Groups like ISIS often exploit such chaos.