A group of jihadist internet forums has been a strong force in promoting extremism and small scale, unsophisticated attacks such as the one in Woolwich have become a global threat with increased internet use for spreading extremist violence, according to a 2012 report by the Dutch security service AIVD.
More than 2000 websites that promote terrorism have been removed since 2010 by the Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorism internet referral unit, The Independent reports.
According to the report, counter-terrorism experts are trying to create 'counter-narrative' messages from terrorism survivors to spread doubt about the jihad principle and challenge the extremist rhetoric.
The report said that Against Violent Extremism (AVE) network hopes to make potential extremists refrain from meeting radicalising influences in the real world.
Director of Europol, Europe's crime intelligence agency, Rob Wainwright has described the threat as a 'rising concern' as an estimated 8,000 websites are 'serving terrorists and their supporters'.
The Dutch report has warned against increasing internet use in countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen that have resulted in an influx of extremists who are prepared to spread their ideology.
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Chief intelligence officer for the security consultancy Treadstone 71, Jeff Bardin said that the jihadist websites use the internet to recruit, indoctrinate and contribute to radicalisation, and sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Pastebin have been all the more helpful. He added that the Internet relay chat is popular for immediate communication of messages.
Terrorism Analyst at the think-tank the Henry Jackson Society, Robin Simcox said that the people spreading extremism through websites are switching to social media as they are aware that their activities on these sites are being monitored by security services, adding that the enemies of Islam are at a threat to encounter more crude attacks like the Woolwich murder.
Meanwhile, a surveillance team of Scotland Yard is working through its specialized social media unit and using a 'listening tool' to gauge sentiment, and software to pinpoint geographical 'hotspots' where certain activity is taking place, based on keywords.
