UK Minister Wants Kids' School Computers Spied on to Stop Radicalization

The responsibility schools in England have to stop radicalization climbed the political agenda following the disappearance of three teenage girls from East London, who traveled to Syria via Turkey to join Daesh, also known as Islamic State.

The announcement by Education Secretary Nicky Morgan that all schools must set up online filters to monitor pupil's internet use has been announced amid concerns that young people could be targeted by extremists via school computers.

"As a parent, I've seen just what an important role the Internet can play in children's education. But it can also bring risks, which is why we must do everything we can to help children stay safe online — at school and at home," Nicky Morgan said.

However, the head teacher of the three missing teenage girls says there is still no evidence that they were radicalized at school because pupils are not allowed to access social media on school computers.

Under the government's Counter Terrorism and Security Act, which became law in February 2015, schools already have a legal duty to prevent children and teenagers from being radicalized. And in June 2015, a computer spyware program was launched allowing teachers to snoop on school pupils to spot any early signs of radicalization.

The software, developed by Impero and counterterrorism think tank Quilliam, is able to spot key words and phrases from a so-called radicalization library. When particular words are typed into a keyboard, it triggers the software to take a screen grab which can identify the pupil.

​Speaking at the launch of the software program, Jonathan Russell, the think tank's political liaison officer said: "The Internet has made it easy for young people to access extreme or radical material.

"While measures such as the UK government's Prevent Strategy existed, it's now clear that more need to be done to counter radicalization early on."

The UK government is currently reviewing the controversial new Investigatory Powers Bill, dubbed the Snoopers' Charter. 

If passed into law, the bill would grant government authorities, including Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, the security services and police officers the power to collect and save swathes of communications data. Be it on a smartphone or a school computer.