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The head of MI5 today told of the 'staggering' three-fold rise in the number of children being investigated for terrorism with 'canny online memes' pushing them towards the far-right.
Director-general Ken McCallum said the security agency was seeing 'far too many cases where very young people are being drawn into poisonous online extremism'.
In a wide-ranging speech, he also highlighted the 'worsening threat from al Qaida and in particular from Islamic State' - which he said had 'resumed efforts to export terrorism' and told how MI5 was 'powerfully alive' to the risk tensions in the Middle East posed to terrorist activity in the UK.
Speaking at the Counter Terrorism Operations Centre in west London on Tuesday, he said: 'Sadly, 13% of all those being investigated by MI5 for involvement in UK terrorism are under 18.
'That's a threefold increase in the last three years. Extreme right-wing terrorism in particular skews heavily towards young people, driven by propaganda that shows a canny understanding of online culture.'
Answering questions from reporters, he said the proportion - one in eight of the people MI5 was investigating for involvement in UK terrorism - was 'quite a staggering thing', adding: 'That's not something I would have expected to see earlier in my own career.'
Reiterating concerns he has previously raised about the role of the internet being the 'biggest factor' driving the trend, he described how easily youngsters could access 'inspirational and instructional material' from their bedrooms.
Most are influenced by a range of extreme right-wing ideologies, he said, adding that 'canny online memes' were drawing children into such views.
Overall, MI5 and the police had disrupted 43 late-stage attack plots since March 2017 saving 'numerous lives' he said, adding: 'Some of those plotters were trying to get hold of firearms and explosives, in the final days of planning mass murder.'
UK security services are investigating 700 live terror plots
Director-general Ken McCallum said the security agency was seeing 'far too many cases where very young people are being drawn into poisonous online extremism'.
In a wide-ranging speech, he also highlighted the 'worsening threat from al Qaida and in particular from Islamic State' - which he said had 'resumed efforts to export terrorism' and told how MI5 was 'powerfully alive' to the risk tensions in the Middle East posed to terrorist activity in the UK.
Speaking at the Counter Terrorism Operations Centre in west London on Tuesday, he said: 'Sadly, 13% of all those being investigated by MI5 for involvement in UK terrorism are under 18.
'That's a threefold increase in the last three years. Extreme right-wing terrorism in particular skews heavily towards young people, driven by propaganda that shows a canny understanding of online culture.'
Answering questions from reporters, he said the proportion - one in eight of the people MI5 was investigating for involvement in UK terrorism - was 'quite a staggering thing', adding: 'That's not something I would have expected to see earlier in my own career.'
Reiterating concerns he has previously raised about the role of the internet being the 'biggest factor' driving the trend, he described how easily youngsters could access 'inspirational and instructional material' from their bedrooms.
Most are influenced by a range of extreme right-wing ideologies, he said, adding that 'canny online memes' were drawing children into such views.
Overall, MI5 and the police had disrupted 43 late-stage attack plots since March 2017 saving 'numerous lives' he said, adding: 'Some of those plotters were trying to get hold of firearms and explosives, in the final days of planning mass murder.'
UK security services are investigating 700 live terror plots
