Five Eyes chiefs issue stark warning over online terror radicalisation of children

Five Eyes security chiefs have issued an unprecedented warning about terrorist radicalisation of children online.

For the first time since its inception during the Second World War, the Five Eyes alliance of Britain, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand has published a public-facing paper calling for a “whole society response” to the threat of the radicalisation of children towards violent extremism.

Security and intelligence chiefs have appealed for parents to be more alert to the risks, governments to strengthen legislation for law enforcement agencies to combat the threat, and social media firms to do more to remove extremist content from their platforms.

The appeal comes as figures published on Thursday showed a record 3,026 children aged under 15, including nearly 300 under 10, have been referred to the Government’s Prevent programme in the past year. The programme aims to stop individuals becoming terrorists.

Read more: The Telegraph (UK)