• Disrupting Power Since 2015
  • Donate
  • Login
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
  • Login
  • Register
Canary
MEDIA THAT DISRUPTS
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
MANAGE SUBSCRIPTION
SUPPORT
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
Canary
No Result
View All Result

The British government is covertly funding Muslim media as part of its counter terror strategy

Afroze Fatima Zaidi by Afroze Fatima Zaidi
17 August 2019
in Trending, UK
Reading Time: 2 mins read
161 12
A A
1
Home Trending
321
SHARES
2.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A report published by Middle East Eye on 15 August revealed that a media outlet for young Muslims is in fact “a covert British government counterterrorism programme”:

'Woke' news platform aimed at young Muslims is actually a secret British government counterterrorism programme pic.twitter.com/gvtTAH6x2x

— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) August 16, 2019

Transparency

Security officials have admitted that the news platform This is Woke is part of the government’s counter-terror strategy. It was created by a media company for the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism (OSCT), a department of the Home Office. However, OSCT has refused to disclose its reasons for this initiative, citing national security concerns.

Members of the Muslim community have taken to Twitter to criticise the Home Office’s lack of transparency. And many believe it will create further distrust of the authorities among British Muslims.

Infuriated about the Home Office's Chicken Shop knife crime campaign? There's more. The Home Office pretended to be a "woke" media company that was actually a covert counter terror programme.
https://t.co/mFBbky7EHP

— Areeb Ullah (@are_eb) August 15, 2019

Pro-PREVENT people: we’re open and transparent and certain groups are just scaremongering

Home office RICU: we clandestinely fund projects that target Muslim communities and seem like they’re grassroots orgs, but they’re not. Can’t tell you more, because national security

— AssedBaig (@AssedBaig) August 17, 2019

This complete absence of transparency is just one of many reasons why there is such little trust between Muslim communities and govt on CT initiatives https://t.co/CLIb1gTpws

— Khadijah Elshayyal (@DrKElshayyal) August 16, 2019

so angry abt home office/this is woke situation I can’t articulate myself. How can the govt expect Muslims not to have trust issues with our govt. If you are going to consistently operate like ******* snakes infiltrating communities under the guise of community & empowerment.

— Nafisa Bakkar (@NafisaBakkar) August 16, 2019

The betrayal of trust that we face at every level of every institution including online spaces, media platforms, arts and culture events, civic life and everything else is honestly something I think everyone concerned w racism at ALL needs to be SCREAMING about! This is urgent!

— Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan (@thebrownhijabi) August 17, 2019

The problem runs deeper

From discussions online, it quickly became clear that this is not the only covertly-funded government initiative within the Muslim community. A company called Team JGO which created Super Sisters Mag, also appears to have received Home Office funding. Needless to say, the revelations have caused considerable distress among Muslims:

Take @SuperSistersMag that was founded by Team JGO who claim this mag is a Home Office project they delivered and have taken Prevent funding previously on their own website. @UK_CAGE @thebrownhijabi @RobFaureWalker @Tarek_Younis_ @YBirt @IanCobain is this Breakthrough Media too? pic.twitter.com/X0xEmQwOGy

— Dr Asim Qureshi 🏞️➡️🌊🇵🇸🕊️ (@AsimCP) August 16, 2019

https://twitter.com/Ayymina_/status/1162633387489857537?s=20

Having tweeted this & followed @AsimCP’s thread last night someone DMd me about this tweet giving the wildest insight into @SuperSistersMag… READ THIS DM… how is it not parody that middle aged white men pretend to be a Muslim women’s mag as part of counter terror efforts!? pic.twitter.com/9yXHz6bgVi

— Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan (@thebrownhijabi) August 17, 2019

And now someone else who used to work for JGO has DMd me to say exactly that. pic.twitter.com/eI9TAzeSBj

— Dr Asim Qureshi 🏞️➡️🌊🇵🇸🕊️ (@AsimCP) August 17, 2019

Academic Yahya Birt has described these attempts to create government-funded Muslim grassroots organisations as “astroturfing“. Instead of supporting initiatives organically started by Muslims themselves, the state is keen to infiltrate Muslim spaces, often covertly, for its own security agenda.

Birt says in his article: “Opaque government manipulation of British Muslim community life has become pervasive”. The targeting of Muslim communities as potential sites of terror is informed by, and further feeds into, anti-Muslim paranoia.

If you liked this story then you'd definitely like this piece by @YBirt. He looks into "Astroturfing". The age-old colonial policy designed to give projects the appearance of being “grassroots” when in fact it is driven from above by state funding.https://t.co/tS7EoHzUjV

— Areeb Ullah (@are_eb) August 17, 2019

https://twitter.com/RobFaureWalker/status/1162417146665811969?s=20

Ultimately, the revelations about Woke display bad faith and a blatant disregard from the Home Office for the freedom and privacy of British Muslims. But apart from bad faith, it’s bad politics, as this incident will only widen the rift between British authorities and already heavily-surveilled Muslim communities in the UK.

Featured image via Flickr/ nolifebeforecoffee

Share128Tweet80
Previous Post

Pub gives away free meals to children going hungry in school holidays

Next Post

China condemns US politicians’ support for Hong Kong protests

Next Post

China condemns US politicians’ support for Hong Kong protests

Topple Uncaged S2 EP15

CanaryPod: Topple Uncaged S2 EP15

Laura Pidcock

Labour's Laura Pidcock exposes the establishment's absurd hatred of Jeremy Corbyn on Sky News

Owen Jones ‘in no doubt’ that the attack on him was politically motivated

Owen Jones 'in no doubt' that the attack on him was politically motivated

Matalan store in St James Retail Park, North Yorkshire

Hundreds of Matalan workers to strike on 19 August over 'insulting' pay offer

Please login to join discussion
How Digital Addictions Are Formed in the Shadow of Large Platforms
Tech

How Digital Addictions Are Formed in the Shadow of Large Platforms

by Nathan Spears
13 May 2025
The DWP tried to hide a report which destroys its arguments for PIP cuts
Analysis

A damning report into PIP that the DWP tried to hide shows its cuts are pure evil

by Rachel Charlton-Dailey
13 May 2025
Breaking the Silence is an Israeli organisation of ex-soldiers which "aims to bring an end to the occupation" of the Palestinian territories
Trending

Even Israeli ex-soldiers know ending the occupation is the only path to peace

by Ed Sykes
12 May 2025
DWP cuts will hit 670,000 families already living in poverty
Analysis

DWP cuts will throw 670,000 families already in poverty into even further deprivation

by Steve Topple
12 May 2025
ICE agents attempt to abduct mother and child, neighbours response goes viral
Trending

Neighbours resist police and ICE attack on mother and her child

by Ed Sykes
12 May 2025
  • Contact
  • About & FAQ
  • Get our Daily News Email
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy

The Canary
PO Box 71199
LONDON
SE20 9EX

Canary Media Ltd – registered in England. Company registration number 09788095.

For guest posting, contact [email protected]

For other enquiries, contact: [email protected]

The Canary is owned and run by independent journalists and volunteers, NOT offshore billionaires.

You can write for us, or support us by making a regular or one-off donation.

© Canary Media Ltd 2024, all rights reserved | Website by Monster | Hosted by Krystal | Privacy Settings

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion

© 2023 Canary - Worker's co-op.

Before you go, have you seen...?

Tech
Nathan Spears

How Digital Addictions Are Formed in the Shadow of Large Platforms

The DWP tried to hide a report which destroys its arguments for PIP cuts
Analysis
Rachel Charlton-Dailey

A damning report into PIP that the DWP tried to hide shows its cuts are pure evil

Breaking the Silence is an Israeli organisation of ex-soldiers which "aims to bring an end to the occupation" of the Palestinian territories
Trending
Ed Sykes

Even Israeli ex-soldiers know ending the occupation is the only path to peace

DWP cuts will hit 670,000 families already living in poverty
Analysis
Steve Topple

DWP cuts will throw 670,000 families already in poverty into even further deprivation

ADVERTISEMENT
Tech
Nathan Spears

How Digital Addictions Are Formed in the Shadow of Large Platforms

Lifestyle
Nathan Spears

Recovery in the Sun: How the Canary Islands are Becoming a Wellness Tourism Hub

Lifestyle
Nathan Spears

Why More People Are Seeking Legal Advice When Separating