Internet Giants Must Do Far More to Tackle Extremism

The terrorist attack on the London Underground involving an explosive device that can be built from instructions available online underlined once again the scale of the challenges we face from Islamist extremists. Attention has already focused on the possible role of the internet in radicalising the perpetrator(s). Unfortunately, extremist activity in cyberspace has become an increasing issue in recent years.

A report published by the Policy Exchange think tank today makes clear the scale and sophistication of the media operations used by jihadists to disseminate their messages online. The authors show that extremist content is spread across a broad spectrum of platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.