London College Emails Monitored to Prevent 'Radicalization'

King’s College London admitted to monitoring student, staff and employee emails to help prevent radicalization on campus, The Independent reports.

"This approach is consistent with the Prevent guidance," a Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) spokesman told the paper.

"Within this guidance, providers have had the autonomy to decide what approach works for them. Some have gone down the route of filtering, some monitoring and some neither of these."

Prevent was established in 2015 as part of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 [CTSA], a package of measures aimed at countering the risk of terrorism and radicalization.

The HEFCE is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Prevent duty.

"The statutory guidance makes clear the need for schools to ensure that children are safe from terrorist and extremist material when accessing the internet in schools. Schools should ensure that suitable filtering is in place," reads the advice form.

Students are not happy about the rule.

"This is yet another example of how the Prevent agenda turns our educational institutions against their own students, perpetuates a culture of fear, restricts academic freedoms and normalizes Islamophobia," said Malia Bouattia, president of the National Union of Students.

"NUS is deeply concerned about the impact that systematic monitoring of messages will have on students, particularly black and Muslim students and those involved in political campaigns, activities or research," Bouattia said.

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