Neo-Nazis rallying activists to 'deliberately infect' Jews and Muslims with coronavirus, report warns

Neo-Nazis have rallied their followers to “deliberately infect” Jews and Muslims with coronavirus as they “fully exploited” lockdown to peddle hate.

A new report from the Commission for Countering Extremism (CCE) warned that far-right and far-left extremists have boomed during the pandemic, “breeding hate” with “dangerous” conspiracy theories.

It also described reports of Islamists claiming Covid-19 is “divine punishment from Allah on the West for their alleged degeneracy” as well as a penalty against China “for its treatment of Uighur Muslims”.

"Other conspiracy theories suggest the virus is part of a Jewish plot or that 5G is to blame," the CCE, which advises the Government, added.

The report warned: “We have heard reports of British far-right activists and neo-Nazi groups promoting anti-minority narratives by encouraging users to deliberately infect groups, including Jewish communities; and of Islamists propagating anti-democratic and anti-western narratives, claiming that Covid-19 is divine punishment from Allah on the west for their alleged ‘degeneracy’.”

It follows widespread scenes of disorder in London and in cities across the UK in June when prominent far-right groups Britain First and the Democratic Football Lads Alliance mobilised activists to stage anti-Black Lives Matter demonstrations. Police made 137 arrests in one weekend of clashes.

Sara Khan, who leads the CCE, said the impact of “extremist propaganda and disinformation to our democracy cannot be overstated”.

She has repeatedly called on ministers to “urgently commit” to tackling extremism said a “complete and urgent overhaul” of Government policy is needed.

“The pandemic has not discouraged extremists from propagating their hateful ideologies,” she said.

“On the contrary they have, as is always the case in a crisis, fully exploited the lockdown to promote dangerous conspiracy theories and disinformation, most notably online.

“They seek to mainstream extremist narratives in society, for the sole purpose of inciting hatred, violence, public disorder and a breakdown in community cohesion.

“We have already seen how extremists discussed the 5G conspiracy theory on fringe social media platforms such as Telegram.”

In April alone, 50 5G masts were targeted for arson and vandalism in the UK. Separate figures from MobileUK, the trade association for mobile network operators, warned more than 90 masts could have been attacked.

Hate crimes against south and east Asian people rose by 21 per cent during the coronavirus pandemic, MPs were told in May.

Posts of fake news were shared thousands of times online and more than 90 per cent of posts containing “misinformation” were not acted on by social media companies after volunteers reported them, the report said.

Last month Ms Khan launched a legal review over concerns there were gaps in the law which allow extremists to push their agenda and sow divisions.

She previously branded the current definition of extremism as too broad and described the Government’s response as “weak” and “insufficient”.

The former head of counter-terrorism, Sir Mark Rowley, is leading the inquiry which will examine whether existing legislation adequately addresses “hateful extremism”.

In a report published in October last year she established the phrase to describe a category of extremist behaviour which aimed to incite hatred and make a moral justification for violence, but does not count as terrorism.

Met Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said last autumn far-right poses the “fastest growing” terror threat to the UK.

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