Man charged after Met Police investigation into alleged Hamas-supporting social media posts

Detectives from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command have charged a man in relation to social media posts, which allegedly show support for the proscribed terrorist group Hamas.

The posts were flagged to the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) in late October 2023 via a public referral. They were assessed by specialist officers, who determined the posts required further investigation as they could be in breach of terrorism laws.

The investigation was passed to detectives in the Counter Terrorism Command and officers arrested a 38-year-old man in west London on 17 November 2023 in connection with the investigation.

After making further enquiries and following liaison with the Crown Prosecution Service, the man was charged on Friday, 8 March, with two counts of showing support for a proscribed organisation.

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “We’ve had a large volume of online content and social media posts referred to us since the horrific attacks by Hamas in October last year. Every single post that is referred gets assessed by specialist officers and where we identify something that could be a criminal offence, then we will take action to investigate and identify the person behind it.

"Posting any material online that glorifies, supports or encourages terrorist activity is not acceptable, and we’ll do everything we can to identify those responsible and bring them to justice.”

Anyone wishing to report extremist or terrorist content online can do so via: www.gov.uk/report-terrorism

Muhammad Abu Jweid, (29.12.85) of Ealing, W5, was charged on Friday, 8 March with two counts of expressing an opinion or belief in support of a proscribed organisation – namely Hamas – contrary to section 12 (1A) of the Terrorism Act, 2000.

Following his charge, Jweid was released on bail and is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, 20 March.