Five Eyes urge action against radicalisation of children online

Counter Terrorism leaders for the ‘Five Eyes’ nations call for immediate international action to counteract the threat to children online extremism poses.

The UK, the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are part of an alliance called ‘Five Eyes’, which brings together security resources by sharing information, intelligence, and threat assessments across a wide range of national security-related issues.

For the first time since it was founded during the Second World War, the ‘Five Eyes’ alliance has published a paper advocating for a ‘whole society response’ against the threat of children being radicalised by violent extremism.

The paper, titled ‘Young People and Violent Extremism: A Call for Collective Action’, incites against the growing number of children across the world becoming involved in violent extremism. It urges governments, the public, and the tech industry to take action, explaining that ‘once law enforcement and security agencies become involved it is often too late.”

The head of Counter Terrorism Policing, assistant commissioner Matt Jukes, says: “Since 2020, Counter Terrorism Policing has been warning of the growing numbers of children being arrested in relation to terrorism offences. Last year we arrested more children than we ever have before, some as young as 12 years old.

“This is not a phenomenon unique to the UK, our colleagues across the world are dealing with the exact same problem and in many cases we are seeing the influence of the same extremist networks reach across all of the Five Eyes countries.

“For all the benefits it brings, the internet has also globalised extremism, accelerated the spread of hateful ideologies internationally, and made it possible for anyone with an internet connection to reach into the lives of children halfway round the world.

“This is not a problem which can be fixed by law enforcement or security agencies. We offer an important last line of defence and will continue to do that, internationally. But with my international colleagues, we are calling for a wider response that reaches the whole of society.

In the paper, the Five Eyes set out their priorities for what must be addressed in order to reverse this concerning pattern, requiring different parts of society to come together to act as a unit.

These issues are: minors that are ‘digital natives’ and therefore use the internet often, online environments that offer threatening people like sex offenders or extremists easy access to children, the unique characteristics of children that make them harder to protect, the need for the public, governments and tech companies to offer support alongside law enforcement and security services, and the other factors that might make someone vulnerable to being radicalised online, such as mental health or neurodiversity.

This call to action urges parents to be more vigilant about their children’s digital lives, governments to strengthen legislative support for law enforcement, and the tech industry to take greater responsibility for the harm caused to children on their platforms.

Assistant commissioner Jukes added: “Many threads have to come together if we are to stop this conveyor belt leading children towards extremism.”

“The technology companies making vast amounts of money from children on their platforms must invest in making those platforms safer. Parents need to take a more active role in their children’s online lives.

“Law enforcement must work closely with our respective governments to ensure we have robust legislation in place to protect people, and strengthen our ability to go after criminals operating online.

“My Five Eyes colleagues and I are calling the alarm globally about the risk to our children, and every single one of us has a role to play in the collective response we need to reduce that threat.”

The director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), Mike Burgess, commented: “The fact that the Five Eyes have chosen youth radicalisation for our first public research collaboration indicates how concerning, escalating and pressing this challenge is.

“Around twenty per cent of ASIO’s priority counter-terrorism cases involve young people. In every one of the terrorist attacks, disruptions and suspected terrorist incidents in Australia this year, the alleged perpetrator was a young person.”

“As a parent, the numbers are shocking. As an intelligence officer, the numbers are sobering.”