Half of Britain’s jihadists are now radicalised online

HALF of all British jihadists are radicalised online, a study has found.

The proportion of homegrown terrorists brainwashed on the web by groups such as Islamic State more than doubled in the five years to 2015.

Some 53 per cent were inspired by extremist material on the internet in that period, compared with 22 per cent before.

The figures illustrate that terror groups are using propaganda films to spout hatred and encourage individuals to carry out attacks on British streets.

It raises questions over whether internet giants are doing enough to tackle the threat. Google, Facebook and Twitter have been blasted for failing to stop the use of their sites to promote terrorism.

The latest findings were contained in the most comprehensive study of UK terror convictions. The Henry Jackson Society’s report covers all Islamist convictions and suicide bombings from the first in 1998 to the start of last year. Author Hannah Stuart, research fellow at the security think-tank, said: ‘Online radicalisation is increasing … First Al Qaeda and now IS are ahead of the game in terms of using the internet and social media for propaganda.

‘ IS increasingly know the power of the internet to target people. It is now much easier to find extremist material.’ Last August, the Commons home affairs committee said forums, message boards and social media were the ‘lifeblood’ of IS and other terror groups.

Extremists used networks such as Google, YouTube and Facebook as the ‘ vehicle of choice in spreading propaganda’ to recruit – yet the firms did too little to tackle those glorifying violence, the MPs said.

Social media firms had refused to remove hate preacher Anjem Choudary’s poisonous online rants before he was jailed.

The Henry Jackson Society report, published yesterday, also found two-thirds of terrorists convicted in UK courts were previously unknown to MI5. Those identified by the security services had halved, from 61 per cent before 2011 to 29 per cent afterwards.

Meanwhile, it was claimed Britain’s top counter- terror police officer snubbed a parliamentary event launching the report, following pressure from Muslim groups.

Mark Rowley, assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, was due to appear on the panel. Instead, he sent a statement welcoming the report.

The Muslim Council of Britain had urged him to withdraw, saying the police risked jeopardising relations with Muslim communities by appearing to endorse an organisation it claimed ‘demonised’ Muslims.

Scotland Yard insisted Mr Rowley was unable to attend due to work commitments.

‘Power of the internet’