LONDON — Technology and online platforms are increasingly being weaponized to threaten the United Kingdom, with hostile nations, Islamist extremists, and far-right groups all expanding their digital reach, senior British police officials warned Thursday.
Describing a “continual battle” against online threats, Vicki Evans, a senior national coordinator for counterterrorism at the Metropolitan Police, stressed that law enforcement cannot tackle the issue alone and requires urgent cooperation from technology companies.
While Islamist extremism remains the primary threat, Laurence Taylor, head of Counter Terrorism Policing, said the danger posed by far-right ideologies and hostile states has grown significantly over the past five years. Evans characterized the threat from hostile states as the “most rapidly escalating mission” for counterterrorism policing.
Officials cited a string of recent cases linked to foreign powers. In July, two Romanian men were jailed for stabbing a journalist working for a Persian-language television station in an attack the judge ruled was carried out on behalf of the Iranian government. In June, a Ukrainian man and a Romanian man were imprisoned for an arson attack on property linked to Prime Minister Keir Starmer—a plot fitting the description of Russian state-backed sabotage. In May, a UK border official and a former Hong Kong police officer were convicted of spying for China.
Evans revealed that over the past year, police have disrupted more than 20 Iranian-backed plots involving assassinations, kidnappings, and other serious crimes. Authorities are also investigating potential Iranian links to arson attacks targeting Jewish sites.
Russia, she added, is orchestrating a “constant stream of surveillance plots” against individuals and institutions in Britain. These operations aim to target perceived enemies of the Kremlin, infiltrate daily life, and recruit individuals willing to amplify Russian narratives or act as proxies. Across Europe, Russian intelligence has recruited dozens of people via apps like Telegram to commit vandalism and arson, including an attack on a London warehouse storing communications equipment destined for Ukraine. The ringleader of that plot, Dylan Earl, was recruited on Telegram by the Wagner Group, a mercenary organization designated as a terrorist group by the UK government.
Evans noted that teenagers as young as 15 have been arrested in connection with such proxy plots, warning that “anyone could be targeted,” particularly online. “This isn’t something that’s happening elsewhere,” she told journalists at New Scotland Yard. “It’s happening here. This risk is in our neighborhoods, in our online spaces, and in our workplaces.”
Taylor confirmed that the UK’s terrorism threat level was raised in April from “substantial” to “severe,” driven partly by a substantial rise in extreme far-right cases. Police have recorded a surge in “vile” online content—a “cocktail of racism, misogyny, and extreme homophobia”—leading to nearly 800 investigations. He warned that extreme views are being challenged less frequently, creating an environment where previously unacceptable ideologies are becoming normalized.
Taylor pointed to the case of Alina Burns, an 18-year-old sentenced to nearly 20 years in May for attacking a stranger with an axe, motivated by a far-right mindset. In another case, 22-year-old Alfie Coleman was sentenced Wednesday to 13.5 years for attempting to purchase a firearm from an undercover MI5 officer; he had been radicalized online from the age of 14.
Evans explained that malign actors are deliberately engineering online content to lure young people, blending propaganda with gaming footage, historical imagery, and music. Children are then prompted to “recreate” horrific attacks from video games in real life. In some instances, “sadistic online groups” incite participants to compete in causing harm—ranging from cyberattacks and serious violence to child sexual abuse and terrorism.
The prevalence of “lawful but awful” content, including extreme violence and gore, has distorted many users’ sense of what is normal or acceptable, leaving them uniquely vulnerable to manipulation by state actors, Evans said.
While the government has pledged to ban social media for children under 16, Evans argued the measure is insufficient. She called for sustained pressure on technology companies to stem the flow of harmful material, noting that legislation quickly becomes outdated while platforms retain powerful algorithms that aggressively push toxic content to young users. “The tipping point is very swift and steep,” she warned, “for those drawn into this world.”
