Man arrested on suspicion of online terrorism offences

A 20-year-old has been arrested in North London on suspicion of encouragement of terrorism and dissemination of a terrorist publication. Both offences relate to Islamist Terrorism online content.

The man was also arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred, relating to anti-Semitic online content.

The investigation predates the current Israel-Hamas conflict.

In June 2023, the man was stopped during a Schedule 7 stop at Heathrow and officers examined his electronic devices which were subsequently seized and sent for further analysis.

The man has been released on bail until February 2024 pending further enquiries.

Commander Dominic Murphy, who leads the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, said: "While this investigation predates the current Israel-Hamas conflict, we know many people - particularly those in our Jewish communities - are concerned about certain material they may be seeing online. I hope this reassures the public that we will take action where people are breaking the law in this way. Anyone concerned about content that they think could be terrorist-related should report it to us.

"This arrest came about as a result of a schedule 7 stop at a port and these powers help us to keep the public and UK safe from terrorism. There is no place for hateful, terrorist ideology to be spread online and where we identify people who we believe to be committing offences, we will investigate and take action.”