The head of MI5 says it has become harder to determine whether terrorists are acting ideologically or due to other factors such as mental health.
Speaking in London, the security service’s Director General Ken McCallum also says would-be terrorists are more volatile and have a 'tenuous' grasp of their so-called ideologies. Report by Alibhaiz. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Speaking in London, the security service’s Director General Ken McCallum also says would-be terrorists are more volatile and have a 'tenuous' grasp of their so-called ideologies. Report by Alibhaiz. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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NewsTranscript
00:00The headline split of our counter-terrorist work remains roughly 75% Islamist extremist,
00:0525% extreme right-wing terrorism. But under that headline, much has shifted.
00:12Straightforward labels like Islamist terrorism or extreme right-wing
00:16don't fully reflect the dizzying range of beliefs and ideologies we see.
00:22We're encountering more volatile would-be terrorists with only a tenuous grasp of the
00:26ideologies they profess to follow. People viewing both extreme right-wing and Islamist
00:32extremist instructional material, along with other bits of online hatred, conspiracy theories,
00:37and disinformation. Compared to my years combating Al-Qaeda, it's harder these days for my
00:43investigators and their police counterparts to quickly and definitively determine whether an
00:48act of violence is ideologically motivated or driven by another factor like mental health.
00:53It's hard to overstate the centrality of the online world in enabling today's threats.
00:59In both Islamist extremist and extreme right-wing terrorism, lone individuals indoctrinated online
01:05continue to make up most of the threats. In dark corners of the internet, talk is cheap.
01:11Sorting the real plotters from armchair extremists is an exacting task.