A recent BBC Panorama programme has highlighted how individuals linked to far-right extremism are using the global reach of the internet to radicalize others

The programme, entitled ‘Hunting the Neo Nazis’, gives the example of one Durham teenager who was convicted of planning a terror attack after communicating online with an individual in the United States, himself a teenager.

In the programme Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, Head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing, warns of a rise in far-right extremism and identifies particular concerns for young men in their early and mid-teens.

The documentary examines the rise of right-wing extremism in the United States which is characterized by a culture of nihilism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and misogyny and is intent on inciting violence and disorder as part of a plan to instigate a race war.

It is reported that the extreme right-wing website ‘Fascist Forge’, which the Durham teenager used, has over 1,000 members who use it to share information and ideas.

The documentary can be accessed via the BBC iplayer website www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer (please note a TV licence is required).