Children's Commissioner warns social media is intoxicating children with extremism
A new report finds a sharp rise in children referred to Prevent for violence fixation, with 71% having no clear ideology, and blames social media algorithms.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
The Children's Commissioner for England has warned that children are becoming "intoxicated" by extremism and violence online, as new figures show a record number of referrals to the government's anti-terror programme Prevent.
The report, submitted as evidence to the Southport Inquiry, found that 4,700 children were referred to Prevent in the last year, a 20% increase on the previous year. Of those, 71% had no clear ideology, and 65% of referrals from schools and education providers were sent back without any meaningful progression through the programme.
Dame Rachel de Souza, the Children's Commissioner, said the system is failing to deal with children who are fixated on violence, and she blamed social media algorithms for creating a "vicious cycle" in which violent content is pushed to young users. She is calling for a new approach that does not rely solely on Prevent, and for Ofcom to ban tech companies from working with children if they breach safety rules.
The report comes after the Southport attack, in which Axel Rudakubana murdered three girls. He had been referred to Prevent three times but was not taken on because he had no clear ideology. The Southport Inquiry will examine these issues in the autumn.
Separately, Home Office figures show a record 10,293 referrals to Prevent in the year to September, a 39% rise on the previous year and the highest since records began in 2015. The largest age group was 11 to 15 year olds, with 393 referrals for children aged 10 or younger.
In a related development, Childline data shared with ITV News shows social media apps were mentioned thousands of times in counselling sessions over the last year. TikTok was mentioned almost 2,000 times, Snapchat over 1,000 times, and Instagram almost 600 times. The NSPCC is calling for robust age checks on social media sites, and the Prime Minister has backed a plan to ban children from social media.
Tech companies have responded. TikTok said its teen accounts have more than 50 privacy and safety features, and that it uses the latest technology to monitor and remove exploitative content. Snapchat said it is committed to introducing strong age checks for all users. Instagram declined to comment, and Discord said it requires all users to be at least 13.
The Children's Commissioner's report also highlights the wider mental health crisis, with nearly a million young people in England having an active referral to mental health services, and average waiting times exceeding 300 days.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Channel 5 | BBC News | BBC One | Channel 4 | GB News | ITV | Sky News |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 71% of child referrals had no clear extremist ideology and were not taken further. | · | · | · | ||||
| Around 5,000 children were referred to the anti-terrorism programme last year. | · | · | · | ||||
| Referrals increased by 39% compared to the previous year. | · | · | · | · | |||
| Referrals to Prevent reached a record high of 10,293 in the year to September 2025. | · | · | · | · | |||
| The Children's Commissioner said tech companies should be banned or held to account if they allow harmful content to children. | · | · | · | · | |||
| 393 to almost 400 referrals were for children aged 10 or younger. | · | · | · | · | · | ||
| 65% of referrals from schools and education providers were sent back without meaningful progression. | · | · | · | · | · | ||
| Around 20% of concerns were about extreme right-wing ideology, and more than half had no specific ideology identified. | · | · | · | · | · | ||
| 11 to 15-year-olds made up the largest proportion of child referrals, with more than 3,000 children referred. | · | · | · | · | · | · | |
| 36% of known Prevent cases were children aged 11 to 15. | · | · | · | · | · | · | |
| 76% of assessed Prevent cases were white, and around 20% of concerns were about right-wing ideology. | · | · | · | · | · | · | |
| 79% of Prevent referrals in 2024 were closed without progressing through Prevent. | · | · | · | · | · | · |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky News focused solely on the raw Home Office statistics for Prevent referrals, presenting them as breaking news without analysis or connection to the Children's Commissioner's report. The tone was factual and brief, with no mention of social media or the Southport case.
- “Breaking news regarding the government's anti-extremism scheme, Prevent. New figures show that there was 10,293 referrals in the year to September 2025.”
- “Of the more than 10,200 referrals where the age of those involved is known, 11 to 15 year olds was the largest proportion, followed by 16 to 17 year olds and 393 referrals were for children aged 10 years or younger.”
BBC ONE West provided the most comprehensive coverage of the Children's Commissioner's report, linking it to the Southport attack and explaining the systemic failures. The tone was analytical and authoritative, with detailed reporting from Daniel Sanford on the statistics, the lack of ideology, and the call for Ofcom to act.
- “Children are becoming Intoxicated by extremism that they see online the Children's Commission for England has warned”
- “But Dame Rachel de Souza says in her report that too many who are referred to the government's anti-terror program Prevent and not properly dealt with”
- “She's blaming it on the tech companies and their algorithms because of course once a child engages with some violent imagery then that gets pushed again and again to their feed”
ITV1 focused on the Childline data story, giving it a human face through the mother's testimony. The tone was emotive and campaign-driven, highlighting the dangers of social media and the need for regulation. It also briefly covered the Prevent figures but subordinated them to the child abuse angle.
- “A mother whose teenage daughter was contacted by a sex offender online says she fears social media platforms provide a platform to provide a playground for paedophiles.”
- “Childline has been recording the number of times social media apps came up during counselling calls over the last year. TikTok was mentioned almost 2,000 times, Snapchat over 1,000 times and Instagram came up on almost 600 occasions.”
- “I just feel like all these different social media platforms, they're a playground for paedophiles.”
GB News took a highly opinionated and critical stance, dismissing the link between social media and the Southport attack, and accusing the government of using the tragedy to justify censorship. The tone was confrontational and sceptical, with a focus on parental responsibility and institutional failure rather than platform regulation.
- “I just worry that really we are you know blaming Axel Rudakubana's behavior on Twitter videos when in reality you know he was a complete frothing mad lunatic whose parents didn't seem to do that much to stop him”
- “this government is just it's useless in terms of social media if you're gonna take on the big giant if you're gonna take on the people who were putting it out there take them on but oh shut up”
- “we are outsourcing responsibility to from it should be parents it should be schools it should be mental health people it should be the police it is not the responsibility I'm afraid of Elon Musk in its entirety”
5 News gave a very brief, factual summary of the Children's Commissioner's report, focusing on the number of children referred and the lack of ideology. It did not include analysis or reaction, and omitted the social media angle entirely.
- “A new report by the Children's Commissioner for England found that around 5,000 children were referred to the government's anti-terrorism programme last year. But 71% had no clear extremist ideology, so it wasn't taken any further.”
BBC News (signed) carried the same report as BBC ONE West, with identical content and analysis. The emphasis was on the Children's Commissioner's findings and the systemic failure of Prevent, with a clear call for action against tech companies.
- “Children are becoming Intoxicated by extremism that they see online the Children's Commission for England has warned”
- “But Dame Rachel de Souza says in her report that too many who are referred to the government's anti-terror program Prevent and not properly dealt with”
- “She's blaming it on the tech companies and their algorithms because of course once a child engages with some violent imagery then that gets pushed again and again to their feed”
Channel 4 provided a deep, investigative report on the Children's Commissioner's findings, linking them to the Southport case and broader mental health issues. The tone was serious and explanatory, with expert interviews and a focus on the need for systemic change and stronger regulation of tech companies.
- “We know what can happen when a young person fixated with violence gets ignored by the system.”
- “Prevent was set up 20 years ago, before lockdown, before social media.”
- “Ofcom need to be holding billion pound profit, social media companies to account as they sort it out. They should not have access to our children if they're going to allow them to see this stuff.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.