Instagram is teeming with these conspiracy theories, viral misinformation, and extremist memes, all daisy-chained together via a network of accounts with incredible algorithmic reach and millions of collective followers—many of whom, are very young. These accounts intersperse TikTok videos and nostalgia memes with anti-vaccination rhetoric, conspiracy theories about George Soros and the Clinton family, and jokes about killing women, Jews, Muslims, and liberals.
A leading adoption charity is urging the government to train foster carers to spot the signs of radicalisation among young asylum seekers from countries like Syria and Iraq who are living in their homes.
One in three internet users between the ages of 12 and 15 say they saw "hate speech" online in the past year, according to Ofcom's latest survey of children's media habits.
It is the first time the UK regulator has posed a question about the topic in its annual study.
The NSPCC charity said the finding was "very worrying", adding such posts should not be tolerated.
Through bespoke programmes for schools, colleges, universities, private companies and faith groups, Media Cultured aims to tackle issues of racism, radicalisation and misrepresentation through the use of positive role models and clear messages about ‘identity and integration’ within an increasingly multicultural society.
KADIZA Sultana, one of the three London schoolgirls who fled to Syria last year, was said to have been disillusioned with life in Isis territory when she was reportedly killed by a Russian airstrike. Kadiza, who was just 16 when she and her friends Shamima Begum and Amira Abase left their Bethnal Green homes, had been radicalised and groomed online into believing that life under Isis would be some kind of religious utopia.
Instead it led to an early death.
Launched across Canada in February 2015 and in the UK in July 2016, Extreme Dialogue aims to reduce the appeal of extremism among young people and offer a positive alternative to the increasing amounts of extremist material and propaganda available on the Internet and social media platforms.
A series of short documentary films tell the personal stories of Canadians and Europeans profoundly affected by violent extremism; a former member of the extreme far-right in Canada, a mother from Calgary whose son was killed fighting for ISIS in Syria, a youth worker and former refugee from Somalia, a former member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) whose father was killed by the IRA, and a former member of the now banned UK Islamist group al-Muhajiroun.
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