Parents Urged to Help Protect Children from Online Terrorism in the Summer Holidays

Counter Terrorism Policing North East is supporting a national campaign appealing to parents and carers CP make sure their children are safe online over the summer holiday.

For the first time, Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP), the Security Service MI5, and the National Crime Agency (NCA) delivered a public warning to parents that online radicalisers will seek to influence young people to commit criminal acts when they know less support is available during the summer break.

The warning comes as figures released by the Home Office show that 39 people aged 17 and under were arrested for terrorism offences in 2024, accounting for 16% of the total number of terrorism arrests last year.

Detective Superintendent Matt Davison is the Head of Prevent at CTP NE. Backing the call, he said:

“Officers from Counter Terrorism Policing are arresting a concerning number of young people for terrorism offences every year. Some of these offences were extremely serious, and included preparing acts of terrorism, sharing terrorist material online and even possessing a firearm.

“Young people are increasingly at risk of being drawn into extremism and terrorism online. Extremists identify and groom vulnerable young people through mainstream social media and gaming platforms which are used by millions of people every day.

“I would appeal to parents and carers over the school holidays to talk to their children about what they are doing online and who they are speaking to. They will naturally check who their children are with and where they are going when they go out with friends. I would urge them to be just as vigilant when their children are alone in their room and on their mobile devices.

“The Internet Matters site provides practical advice to parents on how to support their children to use the internet safely.

“Anyone who comes across terrorist or extremist material on the internet can report it online at gov.uk/report-terrorism.

“If anyone is worried that their child is being radicalised online, they should trust their instincts and seek advice as soon as they can. You won’t be wasting anyone’s time, and the earlier you act and tell someone, the sooner we can stop those you care for becoming a risk to themselves or others.

“You can visit the ACT Early website for guidance and speak to us in confidence for support.”