5 Eyes Alliance Intervene to Salvage Failed PREVENT following year-long repression of Anti-genocide Views

London - Prevent statistics published by the UK Home Office today have shown how authorities are targeting children in school settings under the PREVENT policy. Nearly half of all referrals to PREVENT involve children under 15, with nearly 300 under 10 years old.
 
The intervention of the “Five Eyes” alliance today, in the form of a report calling for immediate international action against the growing threat of online extremism to children, is a desperate attempt to salvage a failing programme. PREVENT has been universally condemned as it reflects a dishonest use of public funds to legitimise and expand authoritarian laws to sustain forever wars and provide cover for the live-streamed genocide in Gaza.
 
Following October 7th there was a 46% rise, on average, of referrals for ‘Islamist’ concerns, mirroring the widescale repression seen elsewhere of the pro-Palestine movement under the guise of ‘extremism’ and ‘terrorism’.
 
Whilst the risks of unsupervised access to online material are real, the framing of the matter as a ‘terrorism’ concern by the Five Eyes Alliance, does the issue a great disservice.
The Five Eyes Alliance has consistently proven to be a bad-faith actor, actively engaged in repression and complicit in enabling genocide. By framing issues through a counterterrorism lens, they not only obscure their own culpability but also divert attention from addressing the root causes of harm.
 
Anas Mustapha, Head of Public Advocacy at CAGE International said:
 
"PREVENT operates without any legitimacy as it's being used to silence anti-genocide voices. It has faced justified criticism from the start, and the call for its complete abolition has never been more urgent. With the new statistics revealing that children are the primary victims, the public must further mobilise to demand the end of PREVENT.”
 
Ibrahim a Muslim teenager referred to PREVENT told CAGE:
 
"I believe that prevent is an organisation built upon harassment and intimidation in order to scare the Muslims into believing they are culpable with no valid reason whatsoever. The constant tactics used by prevent to infiltrate Muslim households has caused so many innocent lives to be affected, including mine."
 
Ahmed, a Palestinian teacher reported to PREVENT by his school told CAGE:
 
"From my experience, PREVENT targets minorities who stand for justice. It makes me feel uneasy and concerned about being monitored... I am Palestinian and I am grieving the death of family members in Gaza... I was criminalised and reported to PREVENT for standing against the genocide of my own people."

_Photo from Lianhao Qu  _