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The Ministry of the Interior has ordered a review of the treatment of people with autism referred to the government’s Prevent Deradicalization program, in recognition that a high number of minors with neurodiversity diagnoses are appearing in counter-terrorism cases.
The announcement follows a Financial Times investigation in October that highlighted the extent of the trend, with specialist psychiatrists estimating that 13 per cent of counter-terrorism policing work involves people with autism, a condition that affects only 1 per cent. of the population.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper this week announced new measures to strengthen the UK’s Prevent programme, which seeks to identify people at risk of extremism and steer them away from violence. He said the program had to adapt to the growing number of young people who are attracted to violent ideologies online.
The Home Office will undertake a strategic review to improve the support provided to those referred to Prevent “who are neurodivergent or suffer from mental health problems”, it said.
Once people with a suspected diagnosis are included, a quarter of those receiving deradicalisation support from Prevent’s more serious ‘Channel’ are autistic, according to a 2021 internal Home Office analysis seen by the Financial Times and informed in the investigation.
The Home Office has never confirmed the existence of this research and has so far not publicly acknowledged a link between autism and Prevent referrals. The Homeland Security Information and Analysis team, which compiled the 2021 study, will provide information for the new review.
Experts who contributed to the Financial Times investigation say that while autistic people are less likely to break the law than their neurotypical peers, they may be more vulnerable to harassment and radicalization. The National Autistic Society has warned that some autistic children are being referred to Prevent due to a lack of appropriate medical care for their condition.
However, police and intelligence agencies have repeatedly drawn attention to the increase in children involved in terrorist activities. Currently, 13 per cent of those investigated by MI5’s counter-terrorism teams are under 18, a three-fold increase in the last three years. The number of under-18s arrested for terrorism offenses rose from three in the year to September 2010 to 32 in the year ending September 2024. Children aged 11 to 15 now make up 40 per cent of all Prevent referrals.
This trend is causing concern beyond the UK. TO paper A report released earlier this month by Five Eyes security allies (Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) said spy chiefs were “increasingly concerned” about planned radicalization of minors. or undertake terrorist activities.
The document called for better cooperation between law enforcement and academia to understand “vulnerability factors” around youth radicalization, including “neurodiversity and mental health.”
Jonathan Hall, an independent reviewer of terrorism legislation in the UK, was one of the first to point out the prevalence of autism among Prevent referrals.
“It is not surprising that a social disruptor as big as the Internet exposes new vulnerabilities, such as the presence of solitary neurodivergent children in counter-terrorism cases,” he told the Financial Times.
“A policy review is welcome, but it must be practical, and I suggest that, to be effective, it must start with the experiences of these children and young people.”
