Keeping safe: how to spot and prevent online grooming and radicalisation

Keeping safe:

how to spot and prevent online grooming and radicalisation

Since its invention in 1989, the web has opened avenues of communication for connected communities and individuals around the world. While it has brought positive changes by bringing people together and encouraging conversations around important issues, it has also exposed us to new dangers. The web is home to rapidly developing technologies, which – like all technologies – can be misused by people with malicious or predatory agendas to target the vulnerable. ‘Radicalisation’ involves a group or individual spreading or inciting extremist ideas online, and the practice of manipulating someone to gain their trust for the purposes of sexual abuse has become known as ‘grooming’.

The UK Safer Internet Centre is a partnership of three leading organisations working to make the web safer. Childnet International, Internet Watch Foundation and SWGfL teamed up to ‘promote the safe and responsible use of technology for young people’. We spoke to David Wright, the director of the UK Safer Internet Centre, and his team at South West Grid for Learning (SWGfL), about who is at risk from grooming and radicalisation, what to look out for, and the ways in which we can all help to make the web a safer space for everyone.

Radicalisation

What is radicalisation and why does it happen?

The Police National Legal Database, on their Ask the Police website, defines radicalisation as ‘the process whereby an individual adopts extreme religious, social or political ideals’.

Radicalisation usually happens when two conditions are present. Firstly, there has to be a person or group that holds a specific point of view and wants to recruit people to support them or take action on their behalf.

Secondly, the individuals being targeted will more often than not share common characteristics or circumstances. There have been many studies around this, but one of the more consistent factors is that the individual has some form of vulnerability, such as a mental illness or unmet psychological needs for belonging or status, that can be exploited and used by those trying to radicalise them.

Who is most at risk of becoming a target?

Anyone can be at risk. Age, social standing and education do not necessarily matter as much as we previously thought, and we have seen all kinds of people become radicalised, from young men and women with learning difficulties to adults in well-respected professions. What is clear is that, the more vulnerable the person, the easier it is to influence their way of thinking

Online grooming

What is 'online grooming' and would you say it follows a similar pattern to radicalisation?

Children’s charity the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) defines grooming as ‘when someone builds an emotional connection with a child to gain their trust for the purposes of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation or trafficking’.

While the drivers and objectives are different, the actual process is broadly similar to radicalisation, with the exploitation of a person’s vulnerability usually being the critical factor. Those who are targeted are often offered something ideological, such as an eternal spiritual reward, or sometimes something physical, such as an economic incentive, that will make them ‘feel better’ about themselves or their situation.

Who is most at risk of becoming a target?

The UK Safer Internet Centre is a partnership of three leading organisations working to make the web safer. Childnet International , Internet Watch Foundation and SWGfL teamed up to ‘promote the safe and responsible use of technology for young people’. We spoke to David Wright, the director of the UK Safer Internet Centre, and his team at South West Grid for Learning (SWGfL), about who is at risk from grooming and radicalisation, what to look out for, and the ways in which we can all help to make the web a safer space for everyone.

How to guard against online radicalisation

If you are approached or groomed, think long and hard about the consequences of radicalisation to yourself, your family and friends, and your basic values.

-Keep an eye on family members, friends and others you think may be susceptible to radicalisation. Have their behaviour patterns changed? Have they become withdrawn or introvert for no apparent reason? Has their belief structure altered? Are they making unusual travel plans? Are mutual friends and acquaintances also concerned?