British government accused of straying towards ‘thought crime’ as new anti-terrorism law carries 15 year sentence for anyone who clicks on terrorist propaganda even once

United Kingdom: Anyone who views terrorist propaganda once online can be jailed for up to 15 years under new laws that have sparked human rights concerns.

MPs had urged the government to scrap plans to criminalise viewing “information useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism”, which goes further than much-used laws that made physically collecting, downloading or disseminating the material illegal.

A United Nations inspector accused the government of straying towards “thought crime” with the proposal, which originally stated that people would have to access propaganda “on three or more different occasions” to commit a terror offence.

But the benchmark was removed from the draft law, meaning a single click is now illegal.

Journalists, academic researchers or people who had “no reason to believe” they were accessing terrorist propaganda are exempt.

Security officials have told The Independent that discretion will be exercised and the law will help prosecute extremists in cases where other offences cannot be proven, or to prevent radicalisation.

A report by the Joint Committee on Human Rights said the offence “is a breach of the right to receive information and risks criminalising legitimate research and curiosity”.

Max Hill QC, the former Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation and current Director of Public Prosecutions, told the committee he found lengthy prison sentences “difficult to countenance when nothing is to be done with the material” last year.

A Home Office spokesperson said the change reflected the fact people now stream propaganda, rather than making the downloads covered by previous laws.

“There are cases where suspects have become radicalised to the point of planning attacks, at least in part because of the volume and nature of terrorist material they are accessing online,” he added. “The reasonable excuse defence continues to be available.”

The new law was introduced as part of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act, which received royal assent on Tuesday.

It makes statements that are “reckless as to whether a person will be encouraged to support a proscribed group” illegal, and entering “designated areas” abroad.

The areas, to be defined by the government, are expected to include territory controlled by terrorist groups and warzones.

Last month, security minister Ben Wallace told MPs the law would help prosecute foreign fighters, but it cannot be applied retrospectively to hundreds of Isis supporters who have already returned to the UK.

SOURCE: The Independent