Experts have raised alarms over a surge in far-right extremism among British teenagers, with children as young as 13 coming under suspicion of terrorism. The head of MI5, Ken McCallum, revealed that 13% of all individuals investigated by the security service for involvement in UK terrorism are under 18, a threefold increase in three years.
Analysts attribute this rise to a 'hateful soup' of online content that is easily accessible to minors. Hannah Rose of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) noted a 'surge in online extremist ecosystems' and warned that offline vulnerabilities make young people more prone to adopting extremist views. Since 2016, 49 children have been convicted of terror offences, all but one of them boys.
The far-right online network Terrorgram, recently proscribed in the UK, is a key concern. Investigators found that three Telegram channels linked to Terrorgram pushed subscribers towards group chats where 'content supporting mass violence and societal collapse is rife.' Experts say children are particularly susceptible to such violent influence.
Some radicalisation is seen as a legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic, when young people spent more time online. However, investigators note a blurring of ideologies, with extreme misogyny and 'school shooter fandoms' becoming mainstreamed online. This aestheticised content, presented like computer games, can motivate individuals without a clear ideology to commit acts of extreme harm.
Child terror cases are predominantly linked to extreme right-wing networks, but Islamist activity has also resurfaced. For example, a 15-year-old from Nottingham received a three-year community order for sharing Islamic State videos. In another case, MI5 investigated a 13-year-old from Cornwall who led a UK branch of the neo-Nazi Feuerkrieg Division, set up by a 13-year-old in Estonia.
