UK Labour Using Terrorist-Tracking to Monitor Anti-Migrant Post

[Social Media]

 

Labour Under Fire for Using Terrorist-Tracking Technology to Monitor Anti-Migrant Posts

 

The Labour government is facing mounting criticism after it emerged that software originally designed to track jihadist activity is being used to flag online content from critics of asylum policies. A Whitehall “disinformation” unit, the National Security and Online Information Team (NSOIT), reportedly deployed tools developed in 2017 to hunt for Islamic State recruitment videos, now adapted to monitor posts about asylum seekers during the Southport riots.

 

The revelation follows disclosures that the NSOIT flagged “concerning” narratives to social media platforms during last week’s unrest. The tools in question were created by Faculty, an artificial intelligence firm commissioned by ministers to prevent the spread of extremist content, including violent propaganda and calls for terrorist attacks. At the time, the technology was meant solely to stop British users from encountering such material online.

 

Faculty’s platform could automatically identify Islamic State material, enabling the government to alert tech companies for removal. The same company has since secured a £2.3 million contract to develop a “counter disinformation data platform” designed to detect posts posing “a national security and public safety risk.” This updated platform is described as a direct descendant of the 2017 system, now capable of monitoring a broader range of online trends.

 

In a company video, Matt Collins, the UK’s deputy National Security Adviser, explained: “We had a concerted effort to basically encourage social media companies to do more to remove content which was radicalising individuals to either travel to Syria or to conduct terrorist attacks.” Faculty has also sold the software to help identify foreign interference in elections, though there are no restrictions preventing its use for domestic purposes.

 

Another firm enlisted by the government, the Global Strategy Network, was established by Richard Barrett, a former MI6 head of global counter-terrorism. It has been tasked with scanning for content deemed a public safety threat, which during the riots included posts about migrant hotels. Emails obtained by The Telegraph revealed that in August last year, NSOIT raised concerns with TikTok over posts referencing “two-tier” policing of protests and asylum accommodation, narratives that later became politically damaging for Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government.

 

The discovery that anti-terror software was repurposed to monitor debate over immigration policy has fuelled accusations of government overreach. Former US president Donald Trump’s State Department expressed concern over free speech in Britain and pledged to “closely monitor” the situation to ensure American companies were not subjected to censorship. A delegation of US congressmen also met Technology Secretary Peter Kyle to voice their objections.

 

Civil liberties group Big Brother Watch condemned the practice, stating: “It is alarming that the Government is aiming social media surveillance technology at law-abiding British citizens. The Government should abandon its intrusive and unaccountable monitoring of legal online content and urgently commission an independent review of its so-called ‘disinformation’ units.”

 

The row comes as Starmer faces backlash over new Online Safety Act rules requiring social media platforms to verify users’ ages for adult content, prompting fears of over-censorship. X, formerly Twitter, became the first platform to publicly criticise the regulations, warning that “free speech will suffer” if they are not revised.

 

A government spokesman defended the measures, saying: “National security is not only our top priority but also our foremost duty. We will not compromise public safety by letting harmful narratives fester and multiply online, leading to real world harm as we saw in the wake of the horrific Southport attack. Put simply, these are widely used analysis tools and we do not use them to track individuals. They monitor trends safely, legally and transparently.”

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from Source Daily Telegraph  2025-08-03

 

 

[JonnyF]

Classic Labour.

 

Using tools designed to stop terrorists and turning them on their own people to shut them up about their country being destroyed by Labour. 

 

They really are the enemy of the British people at this point. 

[Chomper Higgot]

1 minute ago, JonnyF said:

Classic Labour.

 

Using tools designed to stop terrorists and turning them on their own people to shut them up about their country being destroyed by Labour. 

 

They really are the enemy of the British people at this point. 

I wonder if you supported giving the Government more powers to fight terrorism?

 

How about supporting removing the UK from the European Human Rights laws that protect people in the UK from Government attacks on their rights?

 

 

[frank83628]

Pesky Putin, the authoritarian dictator..... oh wait 

[James105]

11 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

I wonder if you supported giving the Government more powers to fight terrorism?

 

How about supporting removing the UK from the European Human Rights laws that protect people in the UK from Government attacks on their rights?

 

 

 

Might stop 12 year old girls from being raped by 2 Afghan illegal immigrants for starters.   Should a 12 year old girl not have the basic human right not to be raped by illegal immigrants who should not be in the country in the first place?   

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14965559/Afghan-asylum-seekers-charged-alleged-rape-girl-Warwickshire-town.html

 

Whilst the government is monitoring the language people are using who are concerned about illegal immigrants raping their daughters, illegal immigrants are actually raping their daughters.   It's long overdue to call this what this is.  A national emergency that should use military force to prevent the illegal invasion of savage men into the UK to protect children from being raped by these monsters.  

[Patong2021]

30 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Classic Labour.

 

Using tools designed to stop terrorists and turning them on their own people to shut them up about their country being destroyed by Labour. 

 

They really are the enemy of the British people at this point. 

 

Is there anything to support this claim, aside from the above article that has no sources?

I get it that the economic migrants are a crisis and that there are genuine concerns. However, I have the impression that some of this information is put out there to cause conflict. I saw it when the Conservatives were in power and their efforts to deport people were   sabotaged. And I see a similar pattern here. From my perspective, it isn't Tory or Labor, but outside interests trying to turn the UK against each other.