Home / News / New website to report online materials which can incite terrorism launched
New website to report online materials which can incite terrorism launched
DB News: 21/03/2011 - 16:42
Examples of what makes terrorist or extremist content illegal include instructions on how to make weapons, poisons or bombs
A new website has been launched by the Home Office where the public can report materials on the internet which could be used to incite terrorism.
The Terrorism Acts 2000 and 2006 made it illegal to have or share information that could be useful to terrorists, share information that urges people to commit or help with acts of terrorism and glorify or praise terrorism.
Examples of what makes terrorist or extremist content illegal are speeches or essays calling for racial or religious violence, videos of violence with messages of praise for the attackers, chat forums with postings calling for people to commit acts of terrorism, messages intended to stir up hatred against any religious or ethnic group, and instructions on how to make weapons, poisons or bombs.
All reports are anonymous, and all that is needed is the web address of the website.
It is a good idea to also report any content you feel may be illegal to the website administrator, service provider or hosting company.
UK laws allow people to speak, and write, freely without being sent to prison for their views. Therefore a lot of hateful or violent website content is not actually illegal.
However, most websites have 'acceptable use policies' that set out what can and cannot be put on their website. Most do not allow comments, videos or photos that offend or hurt people and will remove content if it breaches their policies, and many have ways for you to complain about a page or video.
Hosting companies provide a place where the website sits, and often have rules about what they are willing to host. You can let the hosting company know they are hosting a website which is causing you offence.
Hate crimes are any crimes motivated by hatred of a person’s disability, race, religion, sexual orientation or transgender identity. It can be committed against a person or property.
