POLICING
Public reports have helped with 400 counter terrorism investigations in just under 12 months. Counter Terrorism Policing examines the work and significance of the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit in turning the tide against terrorists online
IDENTIFYING AND REMOVING TERRORIST CONTENT W ith the help of around 1,300 referrals from the public in 2018 – some of which were from material encountered whilst at work – the Met’s Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) has assisted with 400 live counter terrorism investigations across the UK in the past 12 months. From January to November, 1,297 reports of online terrorist content were made by the public and passed to the CTIRU, which is part of the National Digital Exploitation Service (NDES), within the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command. As well as assessing the public referrals, officers from the CTIRU scour the internet on a daily basis to find terrorist content themselves.
This work has led to the CTIRU being actively involved in supporting 396 counter terrorism investigations from January to December 2018. This figure has doubled since 2017, when the CTIRU was supporting, on average, around 15 investigations per month, compared with 33 per month in 2018. When the CTIRU was initially set up in 2010, it was predominantly focused on working with internet companies to get terrorist content removed from online. However, with the establishment of other internet referral units across the globe, the CTIRU has been able to significantly increase its investigative capabilities over the past 18 months. This has led to officers being able to spend more time identifying specific UK-based threats and E
ISSUE 37 | COUNTER TERROR BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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