Oldham Dad whose son was killed in 7/7 attack backs calls for internet extremism crackdown

Graham Foulkes son David died in the London bomb attack 2005

Published 19th Sep 2017

The dad of a man from Oldham whose son died during the London terrorist attack on 7/7 2005 has backed calls for internet companies to do more to prevent people accessing extremist material after it emerged the UK has more people visiting Jidahist sites than anywhere else in Europe.

David Foulkes was among 52 people who died during the London bomb attack at several tube stations 12 years ago – his dad Graham told Key 103 more needs to be done to prevent people being able to access online extremist material.

Graham said:

“Google has a social and corporate responsibility to work to block these kind of extremist sites.”

A major new report warns online jihadist content attracts more clicks in Britain than any other country in Europe.

Analysts found Islamic State (IS) is still pumping out vast volumes of internet propaganda despite coming under intense military pressure in Iraq and Syria.

Experts say the group produces around 100 pieces of new content in an average week - but this is a conservative estimate.

The in-depth study by think tank Policy Exchange says tens of thousands of users access jihadist material online from all over the globe.

Researchers found the UK was the fifth most frequent location from which content was accessed - after Turkey, the US, Saudi Arabia and Iraq - and registered the largest number of clicks in Europe.

Concerns over the availability of terrorist material such as execution videos and bomb-making instructions on the internet have intensified after Britain was targeted by its fifth terror attack of the year.

In a forward for the paper, former US military chief General David Petraeus highlighted last week's events at Parsons Green.

He said: "The attempted bombing of an underground train in London last Friday - using a device that can be built from instructions available online - merely underscored once again the ever-present nature of this threat."