Parents urged to be vigilant over their children's phones

Officers from Counter Terrorism Policing London are urging parents across the Capital to be vigilant about the online activity of their children, with many buying them phones and tablets for Christmas in the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.

The warning comes as referrals in London to the Government’s Prevent scheme have increased by more than a third (38 per cent) in the last year. The increase has been primarily driven by a record number of referrals due to concerns about the vulnerability to radicalisation of children under the age of 18.

The concern is that with more and more children having access to the internet through their phones, there is an increased risk they may be exposed to dangerous and harmful material that could lead them down a path towards radicalisation.

Detective Superintendent Jane Corrigan, who is the Met’s London Prevent Co-ordinator, said: “I know lots of children will receive new phones or tablets this Christmas, with many purchased over the coming weekend’s sales, so it’s vital that parents are setting appropriate controls to ensure their children are kept safe on their devices.

“It is extremely concerning to see more and more young people in our caseload, who are accessing extremist, violent and terrorist-related content online.

“That is why we need both parental and public help with this – to protect children from encountering this type of material in the first place and to prevent them from disappearing into dark and dangerous spaces online.

“As well as setting parental controls on devices, I’d also urge parents and carers to take an active interest in their children’s digital lives to try and ensure they don’t become drawn towards this kind of material. And if you do have concerns, then the best thing to do is ACT Early and reach out to us for help – before it’s too late.”

If you are concerned about a loved-one who may be on a path towards radicalisation, then you can visit the ACT Early website www.actearly.uk. The site contains useful tips, advice and guidance on how to spot potential warning signs, as well as what to do should someone you know be taking a dangerous path.

Some of the warning signs that parents can look for include:

• Becoming more isolated from friends or family
• Speaking as though they are reading from a script
• Being secretive about who they are meeting or speaking to online

Many of the children referred into Prevent have no identifiable ideology, but they have accessed terrorist-related content online, or developed a fascination with extreme violence they have found via internet searches or social media.

As well as an increase in Prevent referrals linked to children, there has also been a steady increase in children being arrested for terrorism-related activity over the past four years. According to the latest figures from the Home Office, there was a record-high number of terrorism arrests for those aged 17 and under in the year ending June 2025.

Earlier this month, officers from CTP London arrested a 17-year-old boy on suspicion of sharing terrorist publications of extreme Islamist ideology on a social media account. He was released on bail and the investigation remains ongoing.

And on 11 November, an 18-year-old man was charged with a terrorism offence after he was arrested at Gatwick Airport. It is alleged that he was intending to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State.