UK Terror Content Thrives on Social Media Despite UK’s New Online Safety Laws

[Social Media]

Terror Content Thrives on Social Media Despite UK’s New Online Safety Laws

 

Despite the introduction of strict UK legislation aimed at curbing online terrorist content, social media platforms continue to host thousands of posts that glorify or incite violence, many of them tied directly to proscribed groups. A growing body of evidence shows that terrorist organisations supported by Iran, including Hezbollah and the Houthi movement, are still openly promoting extremist ideologies and training materials across multiple platforms such as X, Telegram, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.

 

A database shared with The Times by independent researchers has uncovered over a thousand accounts linked to such groups. These accounts continue to disseminate highly inflammatory material including direct calls for violence against “Zionists” and Americans. Some videos detail the production of bombs, chemical weapons, and suicide vests. Many of these accounts have remained online for years, despite their content clearly violating the UK's Online Safety Act, which came into force in March and mandates platforms to identify and remove terrorist content swiftly.

 

Among the most disturbing examples is a Telegram account named Electronic Hizbullah, which has more than 224,000 followers and recently published a video showing the execution of Israeli hostages. Other materials still accessible include a 14-minute tutorial on how to construct an improvised explosive device, posted by a Houthi account in 2014 and still viewable in 2025. Hezbollah-linked channels have uploaded step-by-step guides for preparing sarin gas and constructing explosive devices, including suicide vests.

 

One Iraqi group uploaded a video in 2024 purporting to show the assassination of an Israeli-Canadian businessman in Alexandria, Egypt. Qais al-Khazali, leader of the Iraqi militia Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), maintains active accounts on X and Telegram. Blamed for orchestrating the 2019 attack on the US embassy in Baghdad, al-Khazali still has 674,300 followers on X and more than 7,000 subscribers on Telegram. Similarly, Abu Alaa al-Walai, leader of Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS), used his platforms to praise the October 7 attacks, stating they fulfilled “God’s promise to destroy them [the Jews] and rid the earth of their malice.”

 

In total, 48 accounts explicitly tied to terrorist entities boast a combined audience of over 1.6 million users. Another 200 accounts—100 on X, 91 on Telegram, and several on Instagram and Facebook—are directly connected to terror organisations, together attracting over 12 million followers.

Despite researchers alerting social media companies to this content last year, there was little meaningful action. A particularly incendiary video from Bahraini terrorist Murtadha Majeed Ramadan Al Sindi, who calls for people to “stab and kill every Zionist walking in the cities and neighbourhoods of our Arab and Muslim countries,” remained live on both X and Instagram.

 

Some Telegram channels with more than 400,000 subscribers posted clips of six Israeli hostages being forced to speak under duress before their execution. The footage was shared with no moderation or consequence.

 

Meta responded by saying, “There is no place on our platform for groups or individuals that promote terrorism, and we have removed a portion of the content and accounts brought to our attention by The Times for breaking our rules. However, we do allow people to share content that includes references to designated dangerous organisations and individuals in the context of news reporting and neutral discussion, and a significant portion of the content reported to us falls under that category. We have strict policies in this area and continue to work closely with law enforcement to tackle this issue.”

 

YouTube said it had reviewed the materials after being contacted by The Times and had since terminated 12 channels and removed several additional videos. “When we’re made aware of content that violates our community guidelines, we take action,” the platform said.

 

TikTok stated it was reviewing the content and would remove any that breaches its rules. X confirmed it was also reviewing the flagged accounts. Telegram, however, did not respond to inquiries before publication.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from The Times  2025-06-28

 

 

 

[Watawattana]

Fine them £1,000 per second per post.  Suspect they might move quite quickly if that was in place.