UK police launch campaign to tackle extremist material online

In a bid to tackle rise of extremist material online, Police forces across the UK today launched a campaign to encourage the public to report such content.
The "Stop Terrorists' and extremists' Online Presence" (STOP) campaign focusses on a concerted 36-hour campaign to involve the public in the work of the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit.
Police forces have been using their social media channels from today to urge the public to report material they suspect is extremist or terrorist in nature by clicking on a distinctive red STOP button that can be found on their websites.
This then leads to an anonymous form for them to provide the information to their local force.

New police figures released today indicate a big rise in extremist material online since the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS), with the UK's Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit seeing a trebling in the items it has had removed - from 17,541 in 2013 to 55,556 last year.
This year the unit is on course to remove 100,000 items, having already taken down 26,000 pieces of internet content in the first quarter of this year.
Scotland Yard's deputy assistant commissioner Helen Ball, the senior national coordinator for counter terrorism policing, said: "The internet and social media provide many opportunities for those with extreme views to target young or vulnerable people and their methods are constantly evolving, from using new phone apps to hijacking popular hashtags in order to reach wide audiences.

"The Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit has put considerable effort into prompting the removal of terrorist and extremist material. We know that communities are very concerned about this material - and communities defeat terrorism, which is why police and the public will continue to work together on this.