New “child violence diversion orders” should be considered by ministers to counter the surge in children being radicalised by far-Right and misogynistic material online, the terror watchdog has told Parliament.
Jonathan Hall KC said record numbers of children were being arrested by counter-terrorism police after viewing extremist content online which typically included hostility towards women, immigrants, Jews and government.
But he said that many of those held were “not really terrorists” despite the toxic nature of their beliefs with few engaging in violence.
He added the trend was eating up resources nonetheless and leading to children’s lives being blighted by the stigma of terrorist arrest and that new “child violence diversion orders” should be considered by ministers.
“Something appears to be going profoundly wrong when children are being arrested for terrorism,” Mr Hall, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, told MPs in his annual report to Parliament on Tuesday.
“It is doubtful that all of them are really terrorists in any meaningful sense. There is little public impact or terrorising of the public.”
Mr Hall said the new civil orders could be imposed by courts as an alternative to arrest and compel child extremists to attend de-radicalisation sessions and face curbs on phone and internet use.
He said the orders, similar to the “terrorism peace bonds” used in Canada to tackle “couch jihadis”, could be backed up by the power of arrest for non-compliance and last for up to two years.
Mr Hall’s report, which covers terrorism in 2021, revealed that a record 20 children were arrested during the year. All but one were held for extreme Right-wing activity. Few cases ended in a custodial sentence, however, and a significant proportion were suffering from mental health conditions.
