Web call for terror alerts

A WEBSITE launched by the Home Office intends to make it easier for concerned citizens to report the behaviour of others to the relevant authority, and no, we don't mean Mavis next door.

The Home Office is requesting that punters tell them every time they see something that may be terror related or violently extremist on the Internet, which for some people could turn into a full time job.

The DirectGov webpage links through to Acpo, the Association of Chief Police Officers, preventative delivery unit - Prevent - which in turn presumably will put down its coffee and doughnut, stop looking at Facebook and investigate them.

Using some sort of 'oh no, that's too much' scaling system, Acpo can use the powers inherent in the Terrorism Act to shut down any websites that it rates as illegal.

Announcing it, the UK Government security minister Lord West of Spithead said, "We want to protect people who may be vulnerable to violent extremist content and will seek to remove any unlawful material."

He continued, "This is also about empowering individuals to tell them how they can make a civic challenge against material that they find offensive, even if it is not illegal. The Internet is not a lawless forum and should reflect the legal and accepted boundaries of society."

Assistant Chief Constable John Wright, national coordinator for Prevent, added, "Used in the right way the Internet is an extremely positive communications tool. However it also means that terrorists and violent extremists can, and do, use it to influence and train would-be terrorists, and to plan their operations. Communities have a vital role to play in helping to tackle terrorist and violent extremist use of the internet - and we would encourage the public to refer material to the police through this new online reporting webpage."

According to a Home Office statement, the website will also tell people how to protect themselves from offensive material. It suggests "reporting it to the website administrator or the hosting company, or using filtering software." To which we would like to add, ignoring it. µ