GOVERNMENT’S PREVENT STRATEGY IS HINDERING ENVIRONMENTAL AND ANTI-RACISM MOVEMENTS, AS WELL AS MUSLIM GROUPS, NEW RESEARCH FINDS

23rd March 2022

Today Rights & Security International (RSI) publishes a new report that starkly reveals the ways in which the government’s Prevent strategy hinders free speech and discourages non-violent political activism across the United Kingdom. The research shows that Prevent is creating a climate in which anti-racism, environmental justice and peace campaigners, among others, censor themselves due to a fear of being reported to the authorities, or allegedly face government intervention when they engage in lawful protests and civic action. The report also raises concerns that the UK government may be directly censoring individuals, particularly Muslims, who challenge the Prevent strategy or other government counter-terrorism tactics.

Prevent is the UK’s strategy that aims to stop people from embracing forms of ‘extremism’ that the government claims could lead to them engaging in terrorist violence. In 2015, the UK became the first country in the world to legally require its public sector, including teachers, doctors and other professionals across England, Scotland and Wales to participate in counter-terrorism by compelling them to monitor their service users for signs of extremism and report any students of concern to Prevent.

Dr Zin Derfoufi