Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason Palestine Action is able to recruit supporters, provide operational guidance and use established branding online; and what steps her Department is taking to help prevent those activities.

Palestine Action is a proscribed terrorist organisation. Under the Terrorism Act 2000, it is a criminal offence to invite or recklessly express support for a proscribed organisation. It is also an offence to publish an image of an article, such as a flag or logo, in circumstances which arouse reasonable suspicion that an individual is a member or supporter of that organisation.

Terrorist groups and their supporters seek to exploit the reach of the internet to disseminate material, promote their activities and attract support. The Government is taking action to tackle this. We work closely with technology companies to support the removal of unlawful terrorist content, including material linked to proscribed organisations. Under the Online Safety Act 2023, technology companies are required to have systems and processes in place to reduce the risk that their services are used for illegal activity and to remove illegal content, including terrorist material.

The Police Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit can also review online content which may breach terrorism legislation and refer such material to platforms for consideration of removal.

The Court of Appeal recently found that Palestine Action displayed the continuing intention to promote the use of violence, regardless of the risk that it would result in serious damage to property or serious violence against members of the public.

This Government will continue to take the strongest possible action to protect national security, while fully respecting lawful freedom of expression and peaceful protest. Proscription does not prevent individuals from supporting the Palestinian cause or protesting lawfully, but support for a proscribed organisation is a criminal offence.