App launched for reporting online terrorist propaganda
Museums, pubs and clubs among those critical of PM’s plan
A new app is being launched for the anonymous reporting of terrorist material seen online. The project comes amid concerns that the coronavirus pandemic has created fertile conditions for isolated and vulnerable people, including children, to become radicalised.
The iREPORTit app, which will become available today, will allow users to flag online material to the national Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU).
Neil Basu, the head of UK counterterror policing, said: “Specialist officers are ready and waiting to look at each and every single referral sent via the app.
“Where material breaches UK terrorism legislation, they will seek its removal, even if the website host is based in another country, because every piece that is removed from the internet is no longer out in the ether, potentially radicalising vulnerable people and encouraging them to cause serious harm to others.” Developers Raven Science said the app was confidential and anonymous, and that no personally identifiable information would be collected. Reports will be seen only by the CTIRU.
Jon, a former far-right extremist who did not want his full name published, said that terrorist material like Isis propaganda videos can be used by radicalisers on both sides of the spectrum.
He told The Independent that when he was around 15, he was sent footage of beheadings by Isis militants “in the context of ‘this is what we’re fighting against’”.
“That video stuck with me for a long time,” Jon added. “My main hope for the app is to stop people getting exposed to this extreme content.”
Jon, who now works for the Exit UK counterextremism group, said that Covid-19 has created an even greater reliance on online recruitment and that groups were intensifying propaganda efforts.
The app was created with £40,000 of funding from the mayor of London, but can be used by anyone in the UK.
Sadiq Khan said: “We know terrorists and extremists are set on exploiting the uncertainty and anxiety caused by the pandemic for their own gain. With more people than ever online for longer periods, often at home alone or in isolated environments, I’m determined to do everything I can to counter that threat and help keep Londoners safe.”
Mr Khan said the app would be available to “everyone across the UK”, but added: “We urgently need the government and tech firms to step up and do more now to prevent the rapid spread of terrorist and extremism material online.
“Insidious voices are growing louder online, and we must all work together to counter hate, intolerance, extremism and terrorism.”
Research commissioned by City Hall previously found that four out of five Londoners were unsure how to report extremist material from internet search engines during the pandemic
The survey sparked a challenge for technology companies to propose solutions for reducing the amount of terrorist content online, and the app was the winning entry.
It will initially run as a three-month pilot and will be made permanent depending on the number of downloads and resulting referrals, following an evaluation by the CTIRU.
Businesses from across the hospitality sector, from pubs and restaurants to nightclubs and museums, have sounded the alarm over the government’s timetable for easing Covid restrictions.
Leading industry figures say delaying opening many indoor venues well into the spring will lead to closures and job losses.
Under the plan to ease lockdown restrictions unveiled by the prime minister on Monday, outdoor attractions such as zoos and theme parks will have to wait until 12 April at the earliest before they can reopen while indoor entertainment will remain shuttered until at least the middle of May, along with any prospect of international travel.
Nightclubs face an even longer wait, with 21 June pencilled in as the earliest possible date for reopening. Bernard Donoghue, the mayor of London’s culture ambassador, criticised the distinction between nonessential retail, which can open in April, and indoor attractions, which must wait a further five weeks. He said: “I shall be expressing my disappointment at the arbitrary distinctions between non-essential retail and indoor attractions with DCMS [Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport] ministers. There have been no proven transmissions of Covid at any visitor attractions.”
Sacha Lord, Manchester’s night time economy adviser, said forcing pubs, cafes and restaurants to wait until 17 May to seat customers inside was “odd” given hairdressers and non-essential retail will open a month earlier.
“I don’t know how businesses are going to make it,” he said. “We now have 10 days of fear and anxiety among operators and among employees, because it is 10 days until the chancellor comes out and says how he is going to support them. There is a huge mountain of debt here that people have incurred over the last 12 months.”
Danny Pecorelli, whose hospitality group includes hotels and a golf club, said he was “baffled that all the work and investment we have done to be Covid secure counts for nothing”.
Henal Chotai, who runs the Red Cup Cafe in northwest London, responded on Twitter: “Baffled is putting it mildly.” He said Mr Johnson had “added more weight to heavy heads up and down the country”.
We need to show visitors that we are friendly, welcoming and ready to greet them again. The government’s review, plus international agreements, will be key to making this happen
Paul Whitfield, director of the Wildwood Trust wildlife park in Herne Bay, Kent, called the roadmap an “incompetent and inconsistent shambles”.
“So Zoos and Animal Parks like Wildwood Trust will have to remain closed until 12 April despite being safe outdoor spaces,” he tweeted. “But botanical gardens and historic houses are open now?! What idiots have come up with this utter incompetent and inconsistent shambles?”
Iain Standen, CEO at the museum to Second World War codebreakers at Bletchley Park, said there was “no logic” to the government’s plan to allow shops to open but keep museums and other attractions closed.
Helen Averley, art director for the Let's Circus performance group, said visitor attractions were “places which can be managed in a very controlled way, certainly safer than supermarkets”.
The travel industry also expressed concern and called for extra money for the sector. Mr Johnson said a government taskforce would produce a report by 12 April recommending how international trips can resume for people in England.
Initial signs suggest the sector may rebound quickly, with EasyJet revealing that holiday bookings surged by more than 600 per cent week on week after the government laid out its plans.
Kate Nicholls, UKHospitality chief executive, told The Independent it was “vital that we get our tourism sector back up and running”. She said: “Hospitality and tourism are closely linked and many businesses rely to a large extent on tourism. The number of international visitors has, understandably, dwindled to almost nothing in the past year.
“As we come out of the crisis, and as the vaccine rollout continues apace globally, we need to be sending the
message that the country is open for business. We need to show visitors that we are friendly, welcoming and ready to greet them again. The government’s review, plus international agreements, will be key to making this happen.”
Holidaymakers will know more on 12 April when the government publishes its travel review. Meanwhile it looks increasingly likely that some form of vaccine passport may play a role in allowing international tourism to resume.
There is no public health or epidemiological justification for indoor attractions ... not opening at the same time as non-essential retail. If you can open H&M you can open the V&A
But Kurt Jansen, director of the tourism lobby group Tourism Alliance, told The Independent businesses were currently “running on the smell of an oily rag” and warned they had “used all their reserves and taken on considerable debt just to stay afloat”.
He said: “Since last April they have been closed for around seven months – and over the four months that they were able to operate, restrictions such as social distancing meant that many were losing money even when they were open.
“As such we were desperate for the tourism industry to be open for Easter. However, now large parts of the industry will have to wait another three months and will need significant support from the government in the Budget next week or businesses will collapse with the finishing line in sight.”
Mark Tanzer, chief executive of the travel association Abta, renewed a call for tailored financial support to travel agents and tour operators and Carl Castledine, the CEO of UK holiday parks company Away Resorts, said there remained a “critical need” for government help.
“Balance sheets are weakening as every day goes by these measures will provide the means to rebuild our financial resilience, retain jobs across our entire supply chain and, importantly, the economic viability of a devastated UK holiday park sector,” he said.
The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions said: “There is no public health or epidemiological justification for indoor attractions – which Public Health England state have no proven evidence of being sites of Covid – not opening at the same time as non-essential retail. If you can open H&M you can open the V&A.”
The British Educational Travel Association, which represents the UK’s youth, student & educational travel sector, added that the timeline set out by Mr Johnson “means that we will need further economic support and a tailored financial package for youth travel and tourism”.