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Is James Foley

Twitter & YouTube users warned sharing IS beheading clip could be a terrorist offence

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By John Glenday, Reporter

August 21, 2014 | 2 min read

Scotland Yard has warned social media users against sharing or viewing the brutal beheading clip posted by the Islamic State terror group of American journalist James Foley, warning that this could constitute a terrorist offence in itself.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: “We would like to remind the public that viewing, downloading or disseminating extremist material within the UK may constitute an offence under terrorism legislation.”

The force later back-tracked somewhat however, acknowledging that they lacked resources to track everyone viewing the clip and would instead focus their efforts on those who share the material or praised it online.

YouTube has stated it is actively deleting footage of the brutal beheading and closing accounts belonging to terrorists and other extremist groups, it follows a similar campaign on Twitter urging users there not to share links to the film.

This is geared toward depriving IS of the publicity they crave through horrifying actions designed to provoke as far as possible.

The move comes as Counter Terrorism authorities seek to identify Foley’s murderer; believed to be a Londoner.

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