Warning to parents to stop kids accessing toxic content online amid surge in children being brainwashed for terror acts
WEB FEARS Warning to parents to stop kids accessing toxic content online amid surge in children being brainwashed for terror acts
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SECURITY chiefs are calling on parents to stop children accessing toxic online material over the summer holidays.
The unprecedented warning comes as it emerged a growing number of kids, some as young as 12, are being radicalised and brainwashed into committing acts of terrorism.
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The NCA's Alexander Murray also warned of online toxic masculinity as seen in Netflix hit Adolescence.
Credit: Courtesy of Netflix.
Around one in five people arrested for terrorist offences are aged under 18 and half of all referrals to the Government's Prevent anti-radicalisation programme are children.
Appealing to parents yesterday, MI5 boss Sir Ken McCallum said: 'In a few clicks, young people can be speaking to terrorists online, consuming violent content.
'Terrorists are using slick propaganda to pull young people down a dangerous and potentially life-changing path.'
He joined chiefs from the National Crime Agency and Counter Terrorism Policing to urge parents and carers to be vigilant about children's use of the internet.
It was the first such warning ever issued and comes after heads of the 'Five Eyes' nations — the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada — last year called for action to combat the growing threat to kids posed by online extremism.
Counter Terrorism Policing head Vicki Evans said: 'We encourage parents to activate parental controls on routers, devices and apps, and to start the conversation about online safety.'
The NCA's Alexander Murray also warned of online toxic masculinity, as seen in Netflix hit Adolescence.
He said: 'There is a fast-growing threat from sadistic and violent online gangs . . . including fraud, cyber, child sexual abuse, violence and extremism.'
Stephen Graham and Ashley Walters' acclaimed drama Adolescence smashes huge Netflix record by DOUBLE after taking world by storm
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